Everlasting Changes
by Xx Kiamii xX
Summary: When would a teenage spy ever catch a break? Not when a new drug was invented to turn his life upside down and involving K-Unit once again. Will Alex Rider ever have a normal life? Or will it always involve changes for better, or for worse?
1. Little Cub

**Everlasting Changes**

**By Kiamii**

**Summary: **Good can't ever last too long. A world where you need trauma, Alex is faced with things he never expected. What has K-Unit have to do with it?

**Chapter One "Little Cub?"**

Pain. It was unbearably hard to withstand this form of torture. Not only that... It was cold. Too cold for him. His intestines were frozen nearly and his teeth chattered, his eyes burning. He blinked and shivered more in his pathetic form. They had finally done it, he thought, they had finally broke him. He felt nothing but intense pain lately and he thought he was getting smaller or the room was enlarging. He was dying, he mused. Right now, he preferred dying instead of rotting away in the tiny room that was given to him since he was kidnapped. He frowned and blinked back tears. He would not cry. He would not allow them to see that at least.

They broke him, or so they thought. Alex Rider closed his eyes and submitted himself to darkness, wanting peace away from his pains.

His thoughts weren't heard to those who were thinking of him, miles away. If one were to zoom in upon Alan Blunt, he was sighing as he felt in wonder how best to explain to Alex Rider that Jack Starbright was not among the living anymore...

"Alan. Its best to get him back first." Mrs. Jones responded.

He wasn't the only one thinking of Alex Rider. Currently, K-Unit was being briefed over a rescue mission.

"You are to infaltrate this location and rescue the agent. He is one of the highest ranked agents of MI6 and it would be wise to make sure he is rescued unharmed. Well, not harmed from his rescuers. You will know him when you see him and to identify him, there is a bullet wound a few inches above his heart." Sergeant commanded. The unit nodded and got ready. They had said they would know automatically who the agent was when they got there.

"What MI6 agent have we met before?" Eagle asked wryly.

"Who knows." Wolf sighed. The three men headed out.

"Maybe it is Fox?" Snake suggested as the jumped into a jeep.

"Fox was never shot in the heart." Wolf said. The three men had no idea of what would take place as they drove off for the location.

Meanwhile, a man of harsh thoughts smirked at the pitiful looking figure of the agent. What fools MI6 were to send a mere child to investigate him. Well, he certainly had done a splendid job at making them realize just how much of a child this boy was.

"Tsk Tsk. I would have imagined a lot more fight from you boy." The man said, "Its a pity you'll never be able to spy again." The comment was said with slight malice. He had been peeved to find their spy was only fourteen. The government had stooped to a new low and only an idea had formed in his mind that had succeeded. His plan?

Currently, in front of him, there was no fourteen-year-old body of Alex Rider. He had managed to do something no one had done before. He had shrunk the boy's body to the size of a small child. That of around five or six. He grinned at the small form that shivered on the floor, face down. He had managed to give the boy a good beating the past three days that he had been in his stay here. Scars of whips lined the boy's back, burns on his chest. Bruises aligned his cheeks and black eyes formed on his eyes. Blood was dribbled slightly out of the boy's mouth. The articles of clothing on his small body was torn and caked in dirt like his skin. All of that was enormous on his small frame.

"Goodnight, Alex Rider." The man said in a cold voice. He gave a swift kick to Alex's chest and the boy cried out in pain, having been kicked right where the bullet wound (that had been there for a few months only) was currently present. Alex spat out blood and whimpered in pain. The pain became too unbearable that he blacked out once more... The man left and it was sometime after (most likely another day had hit) before whisperings rattled Alex awake, the sound of the cage that he occupied was opened.

"What the..." A man's voice trailed off. Three sets of eyes viewed the small boy in front of him. No recognition hit them and they knew that for the boy was a small child and the face was bruised beyond recognition with swelling.

"Oh my god. Who would do this to a child?" another's voice swore. Judging by the closeness of the voice and breathing in his face, that man was next to him. Alex whimpered as a hand slid under his head, another under his knees. He felt himself lifted into the air and he bit his lip, trying to stop the painful cries that threatened to spill.

"We better get this kid back to base before we continue looking for that agent." one more man's voice commanded. All three voices were terribly familiar but, he could not place them. He was carried swiftly through places until he heard more voices, unfamiliar ones, and two voices that made him stiffen.

"Who is this?" The voice of nonother than Alan Blunt came.

"A child we found beaten with in an inch of his life in the heart of their base."

"I wonder... Lift up his shirt please." Alan ordered. The men looked at him but did as they were told. the group's eyes widened upon seeing the bright red bullet wound a few inches above the heart.

"Who knew the agent was this young?" Eagle drawled.

"He is actually fourteen-years-old..." Jones said in disbelief.

"I believe we have found what Mr. Circe has been up to." Alan murmured. Circe was the man that Alex had been sent to spy on. If Circe was as braniac as he was led to believe, then this solution was certainly creative.

"They shrunk Alex Rider." Alan explained, "his body was taken back roughly nine years. I have no doubt that he has the mental ability of his fourteen-year-old self though."

"Alex Rider...?" Snake said wearily.

"You knew him as Cub in SAS training." Jones elaborated.

"CUB!??" K-Unit exploded in surprise. Snake noticed a stretcher coming towards them and placed the child on it gently before he turned back to his partners.

"We will analyse Agent Rider's health and report back to you as he is in your unit and you did rescue him." Alan said rather reluctant before him and Jones parted from K-Unit who were pale.

"Cub was 14?" Wolf said hesistantly.

"He was MI6's top agent..." Snake said weakly.

"Shot in the heart... Shrunk..." Eagle whispered. The three men looked at eachother and back at the fragile looking body that was being placed in an ambulance. The men left the scene and returned to their own houses.

It was a day later as Wolf exited his shower, that a phone call came.

"Hello?" Wolf answered.

"Is this James San Luca?" A voice stated.

"Yes this is." Wolf responded in a weary tone.

"We need you to come down to The Royal and General Bank. There are a few matters to discuss about your account." The voice replied and Wolf received directions there and to bring his unit which had been coded as his paperwork. Wolf sighed, MI6 were very paranoid people and he was thankful he knew what meant what in that message. For one, he knew he didn't own an account at that bank and he knew MI6 used that bank as a cover. He called the guys up and they met at the bank.

"I wonder if this is about Cub." Snake said. The three men looked at each other before walking in to the bank. They were taken by surprise to see nonother than Fox chatting with someone at the front desk. He looked over and grinned before waving the men to him.

"Hey you three. Long time no see." Fox said in an amused manner.

"So this bank is MI6 headquarters?" Wolf asked. Fox nodded.

"Alex is in a confined room on floor three. I get to be the lucky devil who takes you up there to see him." Fox said. He motioned for them to follow and headed for the elevator. The men and Fox went inside and as they reached the third floor, they walked down the hall until they came to a room with a glass tinted window. They could see in but the inside occupants couldn't see out.

"This is where he is?" Wolf asked. Fox nodded and pointed over to the bed where a small boy was sitting on it, glaring at a tall man in front of him who was smirking and holding up some sort of board.

"What's up with Cub?" Snake asked in an amused tone. Cub was sitting on the edge of the bed, red trainers on his feet and a baseball cap over his blonde head. He looked somewhat... adorable. His brown eyes pierced childishly at the man and K-unit was relieved to know the blood and dirt was cleaned off him. Though the scars and bruises remained.

"He woke up yesterday. He figured out what happened to him when it happened. He can think like himself which is why he is glaring at the cards that are meant for a five-year-old. The man is his current doctor while he remains at headquarters. Mr. Blunt wants to talk with you three and I about Cub." Fox answered, studying Alex's face. The boy was glaring at his doctor until the man put the cards down and went over to Alex, tousling the boy's hair and knocking the cap off. Alex appeared to be whining at that and the doctor chuckled. Fox showed his friends towards Blunt's office and they entered.

"I was wondering when you men would show up." Blunt said. He stared at all four of them before getting right down to business.

"Agent Rider was given a drug that caused the body to revert but, his mind to remain intact as it is. As of right now, his former guardian, Jack Starbright, was found dead the day he was kidnapped. Considering these circumstances, I request that Fox Daniels take him in. He had his own compromise that he would take the offer so long as you three would be with him. As you are SAS, I am unsure how to proceed gentlemen." Alan Blunt stated. Wolf, Snake, and Eagle were staring in a small amount of disbelief. Fox looked sheepishly at them and an understanding came between the four.

"We'll do this. If SAS will give us temporary leave until we can aquire a more permanent routine." Wolf stated. Alan nodded and informed them of Alex's home on Chelsea which was currently modified to add in fireproof walls and bullet proof windows. The men nodded and were excused to pick up their young charge whenever they wished. K-Unit were shown Fox's office and the door closed behind them.

"So... we're taking care of a 5-year-old Cub." Eagle said slowly.

"Actually he is fourteen with the body and some habits of a five-year-old." Fox pointed out.

"Ri-ght," Wolf said. Fox sighed at his former teammates.

"I was asked to do this because I am probably the only MI6 agent that Alex is familiar with." Fox explained. The others nodded.

"So, what do we do now?" Snake asked. The men shared a look before they decided to spy on Cub at the current moment. They found him being carried down the hall towards Smithers' lab.

"Smithers is our inventor for some spy gadgets." Fox whispered. They spotted Smithers who greeted the boy with great enthusiasm. Alex gave Smithers a small smile and was placed on a chair by his doctor.

"Not letting you walk my boy?" Smithers asked in an amused tone.

"They have this idea that I need to be treated by the age that I look now. Can I really help that my body isn't letting me control everything?" Alex sighed.

"Let us be lucky the drug didn't make you one or two." Smithers assured. Alex paused, looked at him, then shuddered.

"You're right." Alex said. Smithers smiled brightly before pulling out a few select items that could be found in a child's room rather than a teenager's room.

"I was asked to create these lovelys to fit your current age though and I daresay this was a fascinating project. Now this may seem like an ordinary teddy bear," Smithers held up a brown furry bear with denim overalls and a blue collar that had a paw on the chain, "but, when you press the paw on the bear, using one finger print on each side at the same time, basically, a sleeping gas is emitted. This next item is," Smithers held up a crayon box," your ordinary set of crayons except it holds only black crayons. Simply break one of the crayons and a smoke bomb is created. My last item," Smithers placed the items down and held up a remote control car with the remote, "is a toy car. Inside the car is a listening device which can be activated by pressing the Go button under the car and then driving it to the destination. A distress signal can be sent to us by pressing the start button on the remote three times. I haven't had much time to get anything else created but, I feel you can have fun with these items."

Alex grinned at the inventions.

"Smithers, you are awesome." Alex said as he held the bear up and examining it for any abnormal features. It was perfectly normal looking.

"My pleasure dear boy." Smithers said joyfully, "Now, I believe your doctor is coming back any second to collect you for another session. Tomorrow your guardians are supposed to come get you."

"Guardians? You mean the people who are replacing Jack." Alex said confused at first before turning bitter. Smithers hesistated before clapping a hand on the boy's back.

"Cheer up Alex! Everything will turn out fine. I can't tell you who but, I know they are good people." Smithers said. Alex looked at him before giving in. K-Unit had been spying on them without them knowing but, could not hear anything.

"Wonder what they're saying." Wolf murmured. The men gave up and went back to the entrance.

"So I guess we need to pack up and sell our flats before heading towards the place." Fox said. The men nodded.

"One good thing. Won't have to spend so much money on a flat I'm rarely home to." Eagle joked.

"So, tomorrow we meet up?" Wolf inquired. They agreed and split up, each going back to their house to think about the events that were about to take place with in the next 24 hours.

**Author's Note:**

**What'd you think? My first time with an Alex Rider Fanfic. Haven't had a chance to read all seven books so I might have information wrong until I read them all. I am using fanfic names for K-Unit. Don't have a Beta so the words might be an error until then. Hope you like it!**


	2. Home Sweet Home

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Two "Home sweet Home"**

They wanted to antagonize him. That was all they had in their minds probably. Alex Rider sat where he was, glaring as much hatred as he could at the man in front of him. Alan Blunt.

"So," Alex began slowly, "you want me to live with a group of four men from SAS at _My House_ and act like I'm five-years-old until an antidote, which might never get made, can be fixed. How are you going to cure this is if you freaking KILLED the man who CREATED it?"

Alan Blunt, for the record, didn't flinch or change his stoned facial expression. He simply was allowing Alex to explode. It was a same old same old routine for them after all. Tell Agent Rider something, get the info exploded in your face, and Agent Rider goes off to do it. He was glad Jones was not in the room right now otherwise she would probably make this worse by trying to console with the boy.

"Yes." Alan said well... rather bluntly. Alex leaned back in his chair, suddenly weary.

"Are you done with this fit?" Mr. Blunt asked offhandedly. Alex glared at him but, nodded, "Good. For starters, you have been taken out of school with the declaration that you are being homeschooled until you are well, and yes. You are to give off the actions of a five year old child in the case that there is someone watching. Your home has been swept through to give assurance that there are no bugs installed in that house. Measures have been taken to keep you safe. If that is all, a guard is to escort you to the entrance where one of your new guardians is due to pick you up." Alex rolled his eyes at the audacity of this man. He surrendered and allowed a guard to enter and walk him to the elevator. Upon reaching the entrance, Alex took a seat in the lobby and looked around for any sign of one of his new guardians. He dearly hoped the SAS unit chosen was not K-Unit...

Of course with his luck. Alex stopped his train of thoughts and heard his name called. He looked up up, having been glaring at the floor, to see Ben Daniels. Ben was Fox's real name who was a former soldier of SAS before coming to work for MI6. He sported brown hair and brown eyes, coming around the age of 25.

"Ben!" Alex called out it surprise.

"Hey Alex. Ready to go?" Ben asked, looking at him with a small worried tone hinted at his voice. Alex paled but, nodded. Ben being here to take him to his home meant... K-Unit.

"What the heck is up with my luck." Alex murmured to himself. Thankfully, Ben hadn't heard and Alex's thoughts were interrupted by arms wrapping around his midriff and lifting him up.

"W-What?" Alex stammered.

"I've babysat kids before when I was younger. A lot of them liked to be carried. Don't glare, I'm just doing my job at getting you to blend in." Ben retorted at Alex's glare that screamed 'put me down'. Ben simply adjusted Alex on his hip and said good bye to the guard before walking to his car which was a Ferrari F430. Alex's eyes widened at the car.

"I got a good pay raise for doing this... assignment of being your guardian." Ben chuckled, his eyes brightening at the car. Alex frowned but allowed Ben to place him down on a seat in the backseat before getting in the driver's seat.

"Better buckle up Cub." Fox grinned. Alex did as was suggested and nearly let out a scream as Ben hit the gas pedal. _Nearly_. When Fox steadied the speed, Alex's heart slowed and he sighed before taking a peak out the window. He watched the familiar scenery that passed as they drove towards his Chelsea home.

As they slowed down until they were in the driveway of his house, Alex spotted the small changes that MI6 and K-Unit added. For one... there was this freakishly _ugly_ looking lawn ornament out front. Alex couldn't ever decipher what it was.

"Whose ornament is that?" Alex asked in disgust as Ben opened his side of the car and unbuckled him since Alex was distracted.

"Eagle's. Tried to get rid of it but, the man seems to like that thing. I agree, it's horrible. Help me destroy it later." Fox agreed. He let Alex walk by himself while he grabbed the backpack with Alex's items in it and walked to the front door. He reached in his pockets and pulled out a silver key, unlocking the door. He opened it and allowed Alex in first before walking in and closing it behind him.

"We're here!" Fox called out loudly. Alex shot Fox an amused look before taking a few steps away from the front door. Before he could take a fifth step, someone had literally swept him up from the floor and held him at arm's length from their face, grinning. Alex looked in disbelief before noticing who it was.

"What the heck Eagle?" Alex said, wriggling in the man's grasp.

"God Cub, you're so tiny now." Eagle chirped. Alex looked at him with clear weariness. Eagle was acting totally different than when he was training with him for 10 days.

"This Alex, is the true Eagle when he is not on duty." Fox explained. Eagle did not put Alex down but, chose to place Alex in the crook of his arms like a small child. Alex squirmed in his grasp.

"Eagle, you're scaring him." Snake started in his heavily Scottish accent. Eagle looked down and placed Alex on the counter where the kitchen was instead. He had an apologetic look on his face.

"You." Alex panted, "are freaking crazy." Eagle simply grinned before they got quiet.

"So, where is Wolf?" Alex asked.

"I think you need to start calling everyone by their real names to avoid suspicion Cub." Snake said.

"For starters, you already know I am Ben Daniels. Snake is Eric Lucas, Wolf is James San Luca, and Eagle is-" Fox was cut off by Eagle himself.

"Tristan. Matt Tristan." Eagle said in a James Bond imitation. Alex rolled his eyes at the immaturity of the man. He looked around at the three men in front of him.

"Where is Wo... James then?" Alex said, correcting the name.

"He said something about getting take out. We all decided Chinese." Snake answered, grinning at the boy who was currently swinging his small legs around as he sat on the counter. One had to admit that Alex was somewhat adorable as he sat there, dressed in a red T-shirt that had what appeared to be Pokémon on it and blue faded jeans. Fox decided to be helpful and helped Alex off the counter. Alex murmured something about being in his room as he strode up the stairs and they heard a door shut.

"The kid definitely is different than when he was with us at Brecon Beacons." Snake declared.

"Wonder if Wolf will be nice with Cub." Fox wondered out loud. The men grimaced and decided to wonder about the house, finding small things to do before they all found themselves wrestling on the couch for a comfy spot as a movie played. Fox was in the corner of the sofa, Snake claiming the opposite side, as Eagle was kicked off the couch and pouted on the floor.

"Unfair!" Eagle mock cried.

"Tough luck you big baby." Fox teased. Snake opened his mouth to join in the teasing when the men heard keys rattling and soon the door opened.

"Hey guys." Wolf grunted, holding up the bags of Chinese take out.

"You should say Honey, I'm home next time. Way funnier." Eagle insisted.

"No can do Matt. That's your job. Eric. Ben. Where is Cub?" Wolf asked as he placed the food on the coffee table, thanking the lords that the kid didn't own a dog.

"He went to his room. You know, I haven't heard a single noise from his room since he went up there." The four shared a look before racing upstairs, each wondering what Alex was up to. Wolf stopped them from bursting it open, wanting the advantage of the surprise, as he creaked it open and took a peak. He shut it with a soft click and looked back at them, feeling awkward.

"He fell asleep." Wolf announced. The men raised eyebrows and Fox opened the door fully yet, slowly and quietly. He was right. For on the double bed was a fully clothed five-year-old (physically at least) boy asleep on his back, his arms raised up to his head. Each arm was next to his head as his mouth was parted open slightly in an adorable manner. His feet was nowhere near the end of the bed and an iPod was plugged in his ears, his shoes on the floor. Fox, Eagle, Snake, and Wolf shared another look (one that only teammates could understand) before sneaking back downstairs.

"Must be his body size." Fox explained. They sat around the living room (throwing pillows at each other in the process) as they settled down to eat. Wolf slurped his noodles before starting conversation.

"How'd he react to us being his... caretakers?"

"You can tell he didn't like it. Eagle scared the hell out of him by picking him up when he least expected it." Fox pointed out.

"Can I help it? The kid looked actually ADORABLE. You know my older sister had a little boy and I personally kids under the age of seven are cute. Fourteen like Cub was when we met him is a teenager." Eagle replied.

"You didn't have to creep him out though." Snake sighed. Eagle shrugged before plopping a piece of orange chicken into his mouth. The guys all grinned as Snake, ever the one to do poorly at eating with chopsticks, missed his mouth with his own orange chicken and it hit his eye. Snake swore loudly and grabbed a napkin.

"Don't," Snake said with a glare, "say anything."

"So long as you don't drop any more orange chicken on yourself." Fox said with a grin. They finished up their meal, leaving a box of noodles with mandarin chicken in the fridge for Cub, and settled around in the living room to watch The Hangover Movie. They ended up falling asleep to the credits. They failed to wake up to Alex's small footsteps.

"And they're supposed to be my caretakers." Alex said, shaking his head. He walked to his fridge and noticed the leftover box. He heated it up quietly and snuck back upstairs. He ate the noodles with ease and as he was finishing up, his phone vibrated.

"Hello?" Alex answered.

"Alex?"

"Tom?" Alex said in surprise. He was grateful his voice was normal. Thank the lord for that.

"Alex! What happened? The teachers said you were taken out of school to get homeschooled, is it true?"

"Err... Sort of. There was an accident and I can't go to school anymore." Alex said vaguely. He placed the Chinese box on his nightstand and undid his shirt, getting ready for a shower.

"Any accident?" Tom's voice sounded puzzled.

"I got kidnapped a few weeks ago and rescued. It resulted in.. well.. Look, I'll text you when I can see you again so you can see for yourself. I don't want this to be intercepted alright?" Alex said in a resigned tone. Tom was quiet for a bit.

"Alright. Mind if I come over on that day that I can see you? My parents are driving me crazy with their yelling. I'm waiting for them to get a divorce already." Tom said, changing the topic slightly.

"Sure. Hey, I'll see you around, alright? Bye Tom."

"Bye Alex." Tom hung up and Alex frowned before putting his phone up and undressing himself. He grabbed his pajamas and a towel before stepping into the shower. It took longer than usual and was harder to reach everything, having to stand up on his toes to get the shampoo and such. When he finished showering, he changed and crawled back into bed. He turned on his night lamp and turned off the brighter lights. He pulled out his history book, determined not to be behind his peers even if he wouldn't be in their year anymore. Alex fell back asleep, the history book falling to the floor as he laid on his stomach with his arms crossed, his head laying on top of them... He was asleep to the dreams of his childhood with Ian Rider.

**Author's Note: I had enough inspiration and time to finish this chapter over night! Thanks for the reviews and everything. The introductions and meetings sound a little rushed because I'm not exactly good at thinking up their reactions as well. The Hangover is a movie I watched two days ago with my family. Very good movie. Rated R. So Credit goes to the creators of The Hangover, Alex Rider, and ****Pokémon. Oh and some of the words might be wrong. I'm American, not British. Sorry. I hope you liked this chapter though!**


	3. Good Morning Alex?

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Three "Good Morning Alex?"**

The sun dawned onto his eyelids. Brown orbs fluttered open and the eyes it belonged to blinked. Alex rubbed his eyes and yawned slightly. He sat up and looked around his room, remembering it with its familiarity. The room was just... bigger. He sighed and looked down at his small hands. He clenched them in irritation before he unclenched them. He sighed and crawled to the edge of the bed. He blinked. He didn't remember how he had gotten up here. He was really high up from the floor.

"Er..." Was all that came from Alex. He steadied himself as he stood up on the mattress and he gave one big jump. He landed, almost falling, on his feet thankfully. Alex looked around his room before going to his dresser which he knew they had replaced his clothes with child sized clothing yesterday. He picked out a pair of denim trousers and a red jersey. That chosen, he headed to the bathroom. He quickly showered, again with difficulty, and dressed in his choice of clothing. With that done, Alex walked out of the bathroom and heard voices downstairs. Curious, Alex crept towards the staircase and squatted down, peaking through the railings to see Wolf in the doorway of the kitchen. He seemed to be glowering at someone, Alex thought.

"You really think I'm going to help you all clean this up?" Wolf asked to someone in the kitchen.

"Oh come on James! It was just a little attempt." Fox's voice whined.

"You're a worse chef than us!" Eagle's retort came. Alex heard their bickering and wondered where Snake was. He looked around the downstairs, from his spot at the railings, and could not spot the man. He was taken by surprise as arms scooped under his arms and lifted him up onto their hip. Alex did not make any noise but had a look of genuine surprise.

"Good morning Cub." Snake yawned. Alex raised an eyebrow at him and Snake mirrored the action.

"I wouldn't say anything if I were you. You were the one spying on them, not me." Snake pointed out as Alex opened his mouth to say something. Snake walked down the stairs and set Alex on his feet once they were downstairs. Alex followed Snake towards the kitchen and he nearly choked upon the sight before him.

Chaos. Utter Chaos had reigned in his kitchen. Alex looked at the ceiling, the walls, and the floor in horror. Everywhere was some kind of pancake batter. Fox and Eagle were covered in the mix.

"What happened?" Snake deadpanned.

"Eagle wanted to make Pancakes!" Fox said in a helpless voice as he tried to get the muck off his body. No such luck apparently. Alex covered his mouth before a small laugh could escape. Unfortunately a giggle made its way out of his mouth and the men all turned to him with incredulous looks.

"Did you just _giggle_?" Eagle asked. Alex bit his cheek, smiling at the man who was dripping pancake mix.

"Oh no you didn't." Fox said in a voice full of revenge. He sprinted forward, scooped the boy up, and sat on the floor, hugging Alex to his chest.

"Ugh! Gross!!" Alex yelled, having the batter touch him.

"Awe, Fox. Did you have to do that?" Eagle said in a whiny tone, "I was going to do that!"

"Too bad." Fox said, smirking. He let go of Alex and laughed at the sight of the five-year-old sized Cub, dripping in the pancake batter now. Cub glared at him and behind the boy, Wolf was smiling in amusement along with Snake.

"Alright enough of this." Wolf ordered, "Fox. Eagle. Clean this up. Cub, go take a bath."

"This is disgusting!" Alex said. He was about to walk towards the living room to head upstairs when someone picked him up from behind. Again. Alex was really irritated by now. Why must they pick him up constantly?

"Hey, I'm only doing this because you are covered in pancake mix and I don't think you want that to drip on the carpet." Snake said defensively when Alex turned to glower at him. Alex didn't reply, simply allowing Snake to carry him to the bathroom. Snake ran the bath water and got a pair of trousers and a shirt for him before leaving the bathroom after Alex's shouts of "I do NOT need you to help me BATHE!"

Alex got in the bath and sighed, leaning against the wall. Stupid Fox. Stupid Eagle. Stupid Snake. Stupid Pancake Batter. Stupid Wolf. Stupid Alan Blunt. Ugh, he hated this and it was only the first day with them! Not even noon. Alex finished his bath and grabbed a towel, drying off. He tugged on the shirt to get it to go down and zipped up his trousers. Finally dressed and clean again, Alex went downstairs (slightly clumsy as he did so) and entered the living room. Fox and Eagle were bickering over how best to clean up the kitchen. Alex spotted Wolf sitting in the recliner, watching British Soccer. Wolf basically ignored Alex as he went over to the sofa and climbed up. He laid down on it and watched the game as well. Shouting of various words could be heard from the kitchen for the next two hours. Alex's stomach grumbled in protest right as Snake entered the living room. He grinned at Alex.

"Someone is hungry." Snake teased. Alex ignored him, choosing to look at the TV. Fox and Eagle chose this time to emerge from the kitchen, only somewhat covered in the stuff.

"It's done." Fox panted, glaring at Eagle who grinned.

"Good. Now... who knows how to cook?" Wolf said, shooting the two a look.

"Sorry, I'm just as bad as you Wolf." Snake stated. Alex groaned inaudibly. Why did he have to have these guys for guardians? He sat up and walked into the kitchen with out them noticing. He took out a carton of eggs, placed the pan on the stove. He sprayed the pan, standing on a chair, and cracked the eggs. He was in the middle of peppering them when Fox walked in. He automatically was about to grab Alex (having only spotted him on the chair and not cooking) when he stopped and saw the cooking eggs.

"You cook?" Fox inquired.

"Yep." Alex said, "Ian taught me how to when I was old enough to reach the stove... well at least on a chair."

"Oh... Alright then." Fox said, confused slightly. He sat down at the table, if only to supervise the kid. Alex expertly peppered the eggs and slid them on five plates. Fox made Alex sit down and set the plates on the table himself. There was no way he would let Alex do everything around here. Snake, Eagle, and Wolf walked in to the kitchen right as Fox sat down at the table.

"Fox, did you make this?" Wolf asked in surprise.

"Nope, Cub did." Fox said as he took a bite of his eggs. They were really delicious.

"Cub?" Snake said in surprise. Alex did not look up.

"You cook?" Wolf asked in surprise. Alex nodded, sliding off the chair. He went to the fridge and opened it with some heaving. He stood on his toes and attempted to reach for the container of orange juice. He was inches away when a hand was above him and grabbed the juice.

"You wanted this, right?" Wolf asked, uncertainly. Alex brought his hands down and nodded, awkwardly accepting as Wolf poured the glass for him and set it at the table. He climbed back up into his seat and drank some of the juice.

"So, what should we do today?" Fox pipped up after swallowing a bit of egg.

"We're supposed to meet the new team member who is replacing Fox. I say we find a good place to meet up with him because I don't want him knowing about this location..." Wolf said suddenly.

"A Bar?" Eagle suggested, almost sounding hopefully.

"Don't be daft. We could only have a beer. We're SAS soldiers with a little boy."

"What he means," Fox said to Alex who looked irritated, "is that in the public eyes, your a small child with four adults."

"Right..." Alex sighed.

"How about a park?"

"So you could beat him up in the dark? I think not." Snake scoffed at Eagle's second suggestion.

"How about a Club?" Eagle asked, almost giving up hope.

"That's just wrong Eagle... Meeting up with someone we just met at a CLUB?" Wolf said, looking disgusted.

"Paintball?"

"We could hurt Cub." Snake pointed out.

"What's that got to do with this?" Alex asked in irritation. They really kept forgetting he was fourteen.

"We know your fourteen Cub." Snake sighed, knowing what Alex was thinking, "but, the public doesn't and also, your body can't sustain as much damage as it would if you were older in the physical sense."

"I give up." Eagle said, "how about laser tag?"

"Sounds okay..." Wolf looked unsure about that one.

"An amusement park?" Alex asked as a last resort and out of nowhere. The four men looked at him before grins spread on their faces.

"I haven't been to one since I was a teenager," Snake said thoughtfully.

"So we'll meet our new teammate and Fox's replacement at the amusement park." Wolf decided. Eagle grinned and Fox smiled. Alex simply shrugged, sliding off the chair and grabbing his empty plate. He was about to go to the sink to clean it off when Eagle took it from his hands and cleared the dishes for him.

"It's a thanks for the idea and for cooking." Eagle chirped. Alex shrugged.

"So when should we all meet him?" Fox asked.

"I'll call him and ask." Snake suggested. He got up and went up to his room to get his cell phone. Alex sat in the living room as the other men followed him and sat in various spots. Snake entered the room and smiled.

"His codename is Panther. That's all I know about him. He says he'll meet us there in three hours." Snake responded. Alex watched as the guys got up to get ready. He was surprised by Fox turning around.

"Aren't you going to get ready now Cub?"

"I didn't know I was going." Alex said truthfully, looking at them in surprise.

"Of course you're going. You're part of this unit." Wolf said. Alex remained quiet, not bothering to correct the part of the unit piece of the speech. He simply slid off the couch and went up to his room. His phone vibrated just as he was pulling a green hoodie on. He saw it was from Tom and opened the text message.

'What you up to today?' The message read.

'Going out at the moment.' Alex texted back. He put the phone down and tugged on his shoes. The phone opened another letter.

'When can I hang with you?'

'I don't think I have to go anywhere tomorrow.' Alex wrote back. He bit his cheek and sent it. He was unsure if K-Unit would allow this.. He honestly wanted to see how Tom would react to this though. He shrugged and received an OK from Tom before pocketing his phone and exiting his room after placing a baseball cap on his head. He saw the four men putting on jackets. Fox looked at him and frowned.

"That really doesn't look like something a little kid would wear to an amusement park. My nephew wore something a little more brighter and such and he is eight now." Fox stated.

"I agree, that looks like a teen outfit." Snake said, looking him over. Alex rolled his eyes and went back to his room to change. He did not hear Snake behind him until Snake closed his door.

"I'll help you." Snake said calmly. He lifted Alex up onto the bed and went through the dresser until he found a bright green shirt with frogs on the front and a pair of faded denim jeans that had small frog imprints on the sides. He grabbed matching green socks and handed them to Alex who looked at the outfit in disgust.

"Either put it on," Snake ordered, "or I'll dress you myself Cub."

Let's just say, Cub was quick to change at that statement. He glared at Snake, which looked pathetic, and followed the man to the door. Fox nodded approvingly and grabbed the car keys, heading out the door. Eagle bounced after him and Wolf was grabbing his wallet before following. Snake waited for Alex to go outside before closing and locking the front door. Alex followed them to not the Ferrari F430 (which was hiding in the garage now) but one similar. Alex's thoughts was that it was a volvo but, couldn't be sure. He did however stop dead in his tracks as Wolf opened the car door to the backseat and he saw something that there was no way in hell would he ever allow them to put him in. Never.

"You are NOT going to make me sit in that thing." Alex deadpanned.

"Sorry Cub, you're a little kid in the public eyes like we said, and its law that you wear it until you are either 8 or this high," Snake made a gesture to show the proper height. Alex glared at the atrocious thing.

No way in hell would he allow this. K-Unit knew by his glaring, that there would be a lot of force needed to get Alex in the car now. They looked at each other.

**Author's Note: I'm sure you know what it is. Decided to stop here for the night. I'll start Chapter Four right away. Hopefully this sounded alright. I decided to add a little stir crazy into the mix. Trust me, things like than pancakes CAN happen with those who can't cook. Hope you liked this chapter!**


	4. Child's Play

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Four "Child's Play"**

"Come one Cub, it's not that horrible..." Snake said, keeping his distance from the murderous five-year-old version of the teenage spy. Alex turned his intense glare on Snake. Eagle was currently sporting a bruised eye and inwardly cursing whoever taught Alex Rider karate. Wolf was ignoring them all, paying attention to the road as he drove. Ben was listening to an iPod shuffle, on the left side of Alex in the backseat while Snake was on the right, trying in vain to escape the glare.

It had taken most of an hour and they had an hour to get to the Amusement Park.

"I," Alex began, "am never going out with you guys ever again."

"Oh come now! It isn't that bad." Snake said defensively. Alex didn't answer, simply shifting slightly to get in a more comfortable position. Who could? How did one even move in a car seat? Yes, that's right. According to law, he had to be seated in a car seat while the car was in motion. Alex blamed laws and his life for this. For one thing, the car seat had buckles that connected to a block at the front of his chest, one coming from each of his shoulders and the last one from in between his legs. His legs were spread slightly and this was utterly humiliating in his opinion. How did K-Unit manage to strap him in?

They used force. Alex was embarrassed at how things had taken place. When he had spotted the ruddy thing, he had instantly been compelled to run. He hadn't made it very far before Eagle caught hold of him. Alex had slammed his foot at the man's head out of reaction and the black eye had formed. He had been dropped to the ground and would have taken off had Wolf not pinned him to the ground on his stomach, his hands behind his back. Wolf had then whacked Alex on the head and lectured him about behavior. A lecture about his behavior from Wolf of all people was the worst thing that could have happened. Alex had then put up a struggle against Wolf as the man had picked him up himself and threw him, with enough force to knock the breath out of him, on his back in the car seat and quickly did up the straps before Alex could recover.

"If you're going to hurt someone and put up this much fuss to get you in that thing, I'm drugging you asleep before we go somewhere." Wolf stated and Alex clamped his mouth shut. The man was downright scary when he wanted to be and Alex did not want to anger James San Luca, aka Wolf. Still, Alex did not appreciate being in the wretched carseat. He sat there quietly and a thought came to his mind. Wolf and the others treated him simply like his physical age and they weren't griping about doing so. He wondered about that but, didn't have time to dwell on his musings as the cardoor opened and Fox and Snake got out. Fox unbuckled Alex and plucked him up and out of the carseat. He shifted Alex onto his hip and Alex, knowing it was futile now, grasped a fist of Fox's shirt with the hand closest to Fox. His other hand dangled around like his feet. Alex amused himself by swinging his arm around and then abruptly stopped. Stupid child habits were coming out again.

"You must be Wolf," a voice said from ahead. Alex's head, which was downcasted, looked up and he spotted the man. Panther was around Wolf's height and structure, red-brown hair, and bright green eyes. Alex was wondering if the man was chinese, his eyes were somewhat squinted and some of his other features indicated so.

"That I am." Wolf said, "You are Panther I take it. This is our medic, Snake." Snake nodded his head.

"I am Eagle." Eagle piped up.

"And this is Fox, the guy you are replacing. Oh and..." Wolf paused for nearly a second as if debating something, "this is Fox's little nephew who we just call Cub."

"How old is he?" Panther asked, looking at the little boy (in his eyes.)

"Five." Snake answered. Fox grinned and seemed to hatch an idea, almost as if to give evidence that he was holding a little boy in his arms. He poked his fingers around Cub's stomach and the boy squirmed, hiding a smile. Fox continued until Cub began to giggle which turned into a full out laugh as he was tickled. Fox didn't relenquish his tickling until they reached the entrance. He stopped and let Cub regain his breath. Wolf bought the tickets and they entered the amusement park.

"So what should we do first?" Snake started. Fox shifted Cub slightly to get a better hold on him and wrapped his other arm around the boy. There was a series of 'Awe' from passing ladies. Alex felt completely embaressed.

"Why'd you guys decide to bring his little nephew?" Panther asked curiously.

"His mum and dad died and I'm taking care of him now." Fox lied smoothly. Alex wondered if they had planned this before. He chose not to comment.

"Why is he so quiet?" Panther asked next.

"His parents were murdered in front of him and he is naturally shy." Fox again lied. Alex bit his cheek. Panther gave up on the questioning and engaged Eagle in random conversation. Wolf and Snake were chatting as well and Fox simply was following with Alex in his arms.

"Fox?" Alex began. Fox hummed in acknowledgment, "Why're you so willing to help?" Alex didn't continue the sentence. He didn't need to. Fox understood what he was asking about.

"When you first came to the camp. We thought it was a joke. After seeing you in action, you're like the little brother I never had." Fox said, smiling. Alex smiled back. Fox had ignored him when he first met him but, he was kind and caring. That's what was so special about the man. They caught up with the rest of the group, having been trailing behind to talk, and the fun began.

About four hours later, nearing 16 hundred, the men were leaving the park. There had been much sight seeing at the girls (for the single men) and minishooting games they engaged themselves in. On the rides that allowed little kids to go on, they took Cub on them. They had ended up soaked on the water rides and it had been a tiring and fun day.

"Now that was a great idea!" Eagle cheered.

"How about we grab a bite to eat at a McDonalds or something?" Panther suggested.

"Good idea, so you going to meet us up at the closest one?" Snake asked. Panther nodded and said a see you soon before getting in his own car and starting to drive off. Fox looked at the quiet Alex and he chuckled at the sight, drawing the attention of his former teammates.

"Well, seems like we found something to finally get him." Wolf said in a humming tone. Alex Rider, mentally 14 but physically 5, was laying with an arm slung across the front of Fox's neck, the boy's cheek pressed against Fox's shoulder and his free hand's thumb was locked firmly in his mouth. His brown eyes were closed and he was fast asleep in Fox's arms. The sight was adorable and many girls that passed by were aweing at the sight. One female, tall and a brunette, came up to them.

"He's so cute. Is he yours?" The brunette asked, smiling at Alex's sleep form.

"He's my nephew." Fox said, sticking to the story they had told Panther.

"How old is he?" The brunette's friend asked.

"Five." Wolf answered that one and the girls cooed at the answer. The unit counted their lucky stars that the kid was asleep and wasn't awake to hear the two girls and their words about how "adorable" the "little nephew" was. They said a goodbye and Fox placed Alex gently in the car seat so not to disturb him. He strapped him in and sat down next to him. Wolf started the car and they drove off. Alex's head leaned against one of the corners of the car seat, his mouth parted open and Fox and Snake shared a grin. Alex's thumb was out of his mouth this time though. Wolf parked the car as they reached McDonalds. They went inside, Snake choosing to carry the boy this time, and found Panther at a table, saving a spot for them. They sat around after ordering their food.

"So, where are you from?" Eagle asked Panther.

"I was born in China but raised in Hawaii, USA." Panther answered, "what about you?"

"Born in America and raised in London." Eagle replied, grinning.

"I'm Scottish." Snake piped in.

"I am purely British." Fox said in a mock smug tone. They grinned as they looked at Wolf.

"Spanish." Wolf said simply and went to get their orders.

"So Cub is British as well?" Panther asked. They nodded.

"What do you think about kids?" Eagle finally asked after a moment of silence.

"I have one little sister his age, one little brother, one older sister, and one older brother." Panther stated, "Kids are pretty cool and they don't annoy me at all really." The others nodded right as Wolf placed the trays down. Snake grinned suddenly and placed Alex on Wolf's lap before the man could retaliate. Wolf glared at Snake.

"It's not that hard Wolf. Just hold him like this," Fox demonstrated a cradle, "and he'll kind of subconsciously adjust. You're the only one besides Eagle and Panther to hold him anyways and I don't think you'd want me to let Eagle hold him while he is asleep." Wolf gave a resigned sigh and did as Fox told him to, wrapping an arm under Cub's head and since he was sitting, let Cub's body relax on his lap. He was then amused as Cub cuddled up to his chest and his thumb from earlier found its way to his mouth.

"Do all kids at that age do that?" Snake asked unsurely.

"Suck their thumbs? Usually they stop around 8. My little sister still does that." Panther answered, smiling. Eagle popped a fry in his mouth and munched on it. That seemed to be some sort of signal as they all started eating after that. Wolf kept Cub in his lap as he bit into his burger. They finished up and Snake put the trays up. They hung around the two cars.

"So Fox, why did you leave SAS?" Panther asked curiously.

"I got recruited for MI6." Fox answered truthfully.

"That must be kind of horrible." Panther said sympathetically.

"I like it and all. I just don't like having to go Classified for almost everything related to the job." Fox admitted.

"How was training before joining us?" Eagle asked suddenly. Panther shuddered.

"I'm glad that part is over." Panther said shortly. The others grinned at him. Wolf opened the car door and settled Alex in the carseat, strapping him in and leaving the car door open.

"He doesn't like carseats and I don't want him to wake up before we even get in the car." Wolf said simply. Panther laughed.

"I'm guessing it is because those carseats constricts the amount of movement and space you can have." Panther answered, "I had to babysit my little sister and brother a lot before I went SAS on my parents."

"I know what you mean, my parents weren't pleased when I joined. I'm an only child." Wolf said in agreement. Fox grinned at them.

"So, how long ago did you become his guardian?" Panther inquired. He seemed to have a lot questions about the kid but, they were harmless ones and they didn't mind answering (because most of them were lies).

"About a few weeks ago." Fox lied. Panther was a pretty nice guy, he mused.

"Sorry if it seems I ask so many questions." Panther suddenly apologized.

"It's alright." Snake assured him, "I'd be naturally curious if my unit showed up with a kid too."

Fox laughed, "Well, I am guessing we need to head back. How about we meet up in a few days again?"

"Sure, bring Cub again. He's an alright kid. Quieter than my siblings. I could probably bring my little sister with me next time for him to play with." Panther said. He had an air of adoration for kids, Fox noticed. They nodded and parted ways. Wolf got in the driver's seat and he looked in the mirror to see Snake and Fox on opposite sides of each other, sharing smirks and looking down at the sleeping child. Wolf pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive home. Eagle was staring out the window. Wolf noted that he hadn't said a lot today.

"So, what did you think of Panther?" Wolf started.

"He is a pretty easy-going guy. He didn't mind Cub." Fox said.

"I am alright with him." Snake piped in.

"Eagle?" Wolf asked, wondering why the man hadn't said anything.

"He was alright." Eagle said.

"Hey man, why are you so quiet today?" Fox asked.

"Something is nagging at me... Can't figure out what." Eagle said with a shrug. They were quiet for the rest of the ride. When Wolf parked the car in the drive way, Snake unbuckled the still asleep Cub and followed the rest in. He wrapped an arm around Cub's waist and his other arm across the kid's body and at his head. Cub grabbed his shirt with a fist and he was still sucking on his thumb as he slept. Snake wondered how Alex would react to that if he had woken up now or while they were in the car. He decided that they were lucky he was still asleep.

"I'm going to put Cub to bed." Snake told them. The other three nodded and Snake carried Alex up to his room. He placed Alex on the bed and found a pair of loose pajama pants. He eased Cub's jeans off and traded them for the bottoms. He did the same for the matching pajama top. He put Cub in the middle of the bed and covered him up, tucking him. He smiled at the sight of Cub sleeping peacefully, tucked under the dark blue blanket in the green camaflouge pajamas. His arms were raised above his head and the other hand moved once again back to his mouth, sucking contently on his thumb. Snake somewhat frowned at that. He wondered if that was an alright thing, for Cub to keep sucking his thumb. He shrugged, he'd ask Fox to ask Panther then. That decided, Snake closed the door to the bedroom and headed downstairs.

"Hey Fox, can you ask Panther next time you see him, if its healthy for a little kid to suck their thumb continously?" Snake asked.

"Sure. Why?" Fox said.

"No real reason. Cub.. er... Alex keeps sucking his thumb ever since he fell asleep. Wasn't sure if that was an okay thing and all." Snake admitted. Eagle was still quiet and was nowhere to be seen, having gone to his room.

"I wonder what is wrong with Eagle." Snake said thoughtfully.

"He said he had a feeling something was off and he wasn't sure what." Wolf said lazily, flipping channels on the TV.

"I wonder what that is..." Fox said, shrugging.

"Hey guys! I finally figured it out!" Eagle said almost loudly, jumping into the room with a grimace on his face. In his hands was Cub's phone.

"What's wrong?" Wolf asked, eyebrows raised.

"Apparently, some kid named Tom is coming over here tomorrow. He knows about Alex and Cub invited him over here to explain his situation. I felt that there was something wrong going to happen tomorrow so I was going to think more in my room when Cub's phone vibrated in his room. I took it and read the messages."

"Ignoring what you just said. You stole Cub's phone?" Fox said.

"Well... borrowed it." Eagle said sheepishly. He grinned at them in return.

"Back on track. So I'm guessing Tom is who...?" The room got quiet.

"Let's confront Cub about it tomorrow morning." Fox suggested and the men agreed. Eagle slipped the phone onto the couch and they settled to watch a movie. Ironically enough, it was a James Bond movie.

**Author's Note: The Asian thing is basically what my friends say define me as Chinese-Hawaiian. The sucking thumb thing is a habit my brother had when he was younger and he's my OLDER brother... Someone want to review and tell me if it really IS normal for a kid of 5 to continuously suck their thumbs? I hope this chapter was alright. I decide to devote it to stubornness for this time. Tom is about to meet K-Unit. I can't help but write adorable Alex/K-Unit bonding moments. I have their profiles made in my computer so eventually, you'll learn more about their lives as the story goes on. Hope you're looking forward to Tom's Meeting and Panther being seen again, only with his little sister. Wonder how that will turn out? Hope you liked it!**


	5. Tom

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Five "Tom"**

Alex awoke the next day feeling strangely refreshed and wide awake. He sat up and yawned cutely before blinking away the remaining sleep in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes before stopping. He felt the cotton of the shirt and looked down at his body.

For one thing, he never remembered dressing himself in these childish things. Another, he didn't remember ever crawling in to bed; and why, exactly, were the covers tucked around his body? Alex thought for a moment before he recalled the last thing he had done last night and he groaned audibly. He remembered putting up a fight with K-Unit about the carseat, the ride there, meeting Panther, going on a bunch of tiring rides, eating at a food stop at the park, and falling asleep... in Fox's arms. Alex felt his cheeks burn and he took the blankets off him. He crawled to the edge of the bed and stood up like yesterday, jumping off and landing wobbly on the floor. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt that had a large white A on the front and a R on the back. He took the items to the bathroom and stood on his toes to reach the faucet for the shower. He turned it to hot and waited before stepping into the shower after discarding his pajamas into the hamper. He rinsed off and shut the shower off. He dried off quickly and got dresser. As he walked out of the bathroom, he heard the television on and voices arguing. Curious, he hopped downstairs and found Wolf and Snake at it.

"Uhh... hi?" Alex said lamely when all voices stopped to look at him.

"Morning Alex." Fox greeted, "We need to talk to you about something."

"Uhm, sure." Alex said uncomfortably. He walked over to the recliner and with some amount of pulling, he sat down.

"So... who is Tom?" Eagle asked casually. Alex paused and looked at them in confusion.

"He's my friends from my ... old school." Alex explained cautiously.

"So, he's 14?"

"Yeah..." Alex said wearily. Then his eyes widened, "I forgot! I said he could come over today after school..."

"And you didn't think to tell us why...?" Wolf said slowly, trying to control his annoyance at the kid. Alex shifted slightly.

"I forgot about it." Alex murmured.

"Of course you did." Wolf sighed.

"So, what are we going to do about this?" Fox said, shaking his head.

"He knew I was a spy.. I wanted to tell him why I can't go to school anymore." Alex said quietly. The room got quiet before...

"Then if its after school, he will be here in about 3 hours. That's not enough time to say no all of a sudden so I guess we have to let whatever happen." Wolf said. Alex felt angry for no apparent reason at this.

"You know, he has a right to know whats going on. He's my best friend and I'm always leaving him in the dark!" Alex said bitterly, glaring at the floor. The four grown men stared at him, unsure of how to react to this outburst.

"Let's go out for breakfast or something." Eagle said, wanting to change the subject.

"You know what, we're almost out of a lot of food. I say we go to the grocery store for the next two hours." Fox said. Snake and him shared a grin and Alex's eyes grew wide, completing changing emotions.

"You guys can go, I'll stay here and watch the house." Alex said quickly, hopping off the seat and about to run upstairs and stay in there.

"But, you're only a little kid right now Cub." Wolf said, catching on to what Snake and Fox planned, "You should probably come with us."

"No thank-you!" Alex said. Just as he was about to dash out, Eagle grabbed the back of his T-shirt and lifted him up into the air. Alex was now suspended in the air by the back of his shirt. Alex kicked his feet in vain attempt of getting away.

"Oh come on Cub. It's just a trip to the store. Unless... you just don't want to go because you don't want to sit in your car seat." Eagle said slyly. Alex glared at the man. All four of them were ganging up on him now and he knew he would have to go with them either willingly or by force... again.

"You four are evil." Alex spat out as Eagle threw him up in the air and caught him easily, switching him on his hip much like Fox did normally to him. Alex allowed himself to be carried to the car and he looked at the car with distaste as Snake opened the cardoor and Eagle poked his head in, switching Alex into his arms and sitting him on his back in the car seat.

"You do NOT know how stupid I feel in this thing." Alex murmured, wriggling in protest as the straps were brought down across his chest. He didn't mind those as much but when Eagle had to grab the bottom one and pull it up, Alex's cheeks flushed a deep red. He _hated_ car seats.

"Hey Cub, I know something that will make you feel worse." Eagle began. Wolf paused in putting the key in the ignition, Fox stopped as he was putting on his seat belt, and Snake froze as he was getting in.

"Eagle.. I really don't think thats-" Fox was interrupted.

"What?" Alex asked wearily.

"You suck your thumb in your sleep." Eagle said gleefully. Alex's mouth snapped shut with a click and they could practically feel the heat from Alex's burning red cheeks. The boy looked like he wanted to get hit by something.

"Eagle, that's enough." Wolf stated firmly. Alex was quiet and sat in the carseat still as could be the rest of the way to the store. They parked and Fox undid the straps before lifting him up. He stood Alex up on the ground and grabbed hold of his hand. Alex was still blushing darkly.

"Alex, it's alright. It was probably a subconscious habit your body remembers you doing as a kid." Fox tried to assure him. Alex gave him a weak smile before his blush faded somewhat. They walked to the entrance and Wolf wheeled a shopping cart towards them. Alex squirmed away when Fox knelt down.

"I don't want to." Alex said shortly.

"The more you act like that, the faster we're putting you in the seat." Wolf snapped. Alex glared up at the man and was distracted. Fox seized that chance and placed a hand under each arm and lifted him up and into the cart. Alex gave a resigned sigh as Wolf pushed the cart down the food isle.

"Wolf! Get this stuff!" Eagle shouted, holding up a box of fizzy soda. Alex wrinkled his nose, which looked way adorable to passing females, at the sight of the stuff.

"Soda is really not a good drink to get." Alex huffed, kicking his legs in the air idly. Wolf snorted and held a hand to stop Eagle from attempting to place the soda in the basket. They spent about an hour or so going down different isles and purchasing necessities. Fox and Snake had disappeared and now turned up from another isle.

"How about we punish Cub for not telling us sooner about his friend arriving today?" Fox whispered into Wolf's ear. Snake was holding a sack in his hand as they exited the store. Wolf peaked inside it and he shared a wolfish grin of his own. Alex looked at the grin, having not seen the inside of Snake's purchases or heard the whisper, was weary of why Wolf of all people was grinning. Fox and Eagle loaded the trunk with the food supplies and Snake put his bag in the front seat. He lifted Alex out of the cart and into the carseat.

"I still don't like this thing!" Alex whined unintentionally. He stopped and blushed at hearing his voice. Snake shook his head in amusement, latching the straps and sitting down in his own spot. The others got in the car and drove off towards the house. Fox unlatched Alex and let him walk in on his own. As soon as Alex was inside, they locked the front door and sat around the living room.

"Tom is due here in thirty minutes." Eagle noted. Alex looked at him as the rest of the unit seemed to be sharing grins and smirkes with each other.

"Oh and by the way Alex." Fox began 'sweetly', "We still need to discuss your punishment for not telling us before today about your friend. Oh and for hitting Eagle yesterday."

"Punishment...?" Alex asked, staring at the grocers bag that Snake held in his hands.

"Yes, punishment. For the next few days, you have to wear what we want you to wear. Starting right now." Snake said evilly. Alex's eyes grew to the size of orbs and he backed away slowly.

"You're not serious..." Alex said weakly. His back hit the wall and he looked at them in disbelief. They were grinning from ear to ear. Well... Wolf was smirking. Snake took a step towards him and Alex felt afraid of him at the moment.

"If you don't comply now, We'll make it two weeks." Fox said in a firm tone. Alex stared wide-eyed at him and gave a big sigh in resignation before standing up straighter and stiffly letting Snake take his hand and drag him up the stairs and into the bathroom. Snake lifted Alex up on to the bathroom counter and grinned at him. He then picked up the sack and deposited it next to Alex. Pulling out a pair of clothes, he set them on top of the sack and turned to Alex. He began to take hold of the bottom of Alex's shirt and was tugging it upwards. Alex reached out a hand downwards to stop him, blushing.

"What-t a-are yo-ou doing?" Alex stammered.

"Getting you dressed." Snake said simply.

"I can do this myself." Alex pointed out. Snake ignored him, simply pulling the shirt upwards. Alex's arms went up and he bit his cheek to keep from growling at the man. He resisted his natural instinct at kicking Snake as the man undid his trousers and pulled them off him. Alex's cheeks were bright red.

Meanwhile the others were lounging about, listening closely as Alex attempted to resist Snake. Fox chuckled, Wolf grinned, and Eagle simply cheered about when the doorbell rang. Fox got up and looked at the others before opening the door. In front of him was a boy about 5"8" and brunette hair. He was wearing a school uniform from Alex's former school.

"Uhm.. Is Alex Rider ... er.. here?" Tom asked lamely.

"He is." Fox answered shortly. He invited Tom in and led the boy to the living room.

"He hasn't told you about the accident yet, has he?" Eagle chirped upon seeing him. Eagle happily beckoned him over and Tom obeyed.

"First off. My name is Matt. Over there is James and that is Ben." Eagle said happily, "Alex is being... tended to by the last person, Eric."

"Tended to?" Tom asked curiously and hesistantly. Eagle nodded seriously. Wolf took over before Eagle could make up something humiliating for Alex.

"When he was kidnapped, some mad man gave Alex a drug that rendered his ability physically. So we've been assigned to be his guardians until an antidote can be made." Wolf said vaguely.

"A drug that did what?" Tom asked.

"Well..." Fox said, pausing. He was interupted by two voices that were coming closer.

"Calm down Cub! Its not so bad." Snake was saying.

"This is humiliating!" Alex was arguing. The two entered the room with Alex being held in a sort of bridal style (only his legs didn't dangle and he fit in Snake's arms) as they appeared. Tom gaped at his best friend... Alex Rider, formally fourteen, was dressed in a pair of denim overalls with ducks on the front. Under his overalls was a yellow striped shirt. On his feet were matching yellow socks and a pair of white white velcro trainers. Alex's blonde hair was mused up and he was arguing with Snake about the outfit he was in. He looked over at Tom and his face turned a dark red in pure humiliation.

"When did you get here Tom?" Alex asked weakly.

"Just.. a minute.. ago.." Tom said hoarsly, "Is that really you Alex?" Snake put Alex down and the boy nodded, biting his cheek.

"Yeah.. the drug shrunk his body down to the size of a five year old." Wolf supplied too late. Tom stood up from his previous spot and walked over hesistantly to Alex. He knelt down and poked Alex in the stomach. Alex squirmed at the touch and Tom kind of felt faint at seeing his best friend dressed in a child's outfit, the size of a five-year-old. He didn't look like his best friend.

"Don't worry Tom." Alex said suddenly, noticing his friend's weary look, "I still can talk and think like myself." Tom looked at him, studying him before he gave a small smile.

"Can I have some proof that you're Al at least?" Tom asked hesistantly. Alex looked thoughtful and nodded.

"When you first moved here I called you a foreigner until you challenged me to a soccer match and we ended up getting hit so much by the ball that my uncle Ian locked both of us in my bedroom and took away everything besides my bed, leaving us nothing to do but talk and we became friends... after we hit my uncle with my plastic water guns." Alex said, smiling as he remembered that. Tom laughed and grinned at that.

"You are definitely Al." Tom said happily. Alex grinned back and Tom rustled Alex's hair up. Alex protested and Tom smiled before sitting on the ground.

"Why not go upstairs and talk, you two?" Fox suggested. Alex nodded and turned to go upstairs. Tom stood up and followed him, lagging behind Alex. They made it up the stairs and Alex hesistated as they neared the bed.

"You know. I won't treat you any different Al.. but, you're kind of... what's the word for it?" Tom said, giving Alex a lift up onto his bed.

"I look like a preschooler, I know. I had a bunch of girls cooing over me though." Alex said to Tom slyly, knowing that would get to the other boy.

"You know. You should go to the park with me. I could say you were my adopted brother." Tom said hopefully. Alex responded by throwing a pillow at the male.

"Hey!" Tom squawked at him, "It could work you know. You're a defensless little boy and I can be your good old big loving brother."

"Just so you can get a bunch of ladies fawning over you." Alex laughed. Tom grinned at him cheekily. The two talked about random things until it neared dinner. Fox had sent up an ordered lunch for them and they had continued their conversation still. Alex felt at ease around Tom and when it was time for Tom to leave, Alex was sad.

"Mind if I stop by another day? I'll text when I do." Tom suggested. Alex agreed and he said goodbye to Tom as the teen left. But, before he did Tom asked.

"You know. I haven't seen Jack all day. What happened to her? That James guy said that they were your guardians.." Tom trailed off. Alex's eyes were staring at him in sudden shock. Alex was paling. Tom backed away.

"Tom, I think its best if you go right now." Fox suggested. Tom nodded and said a worried goodbye to his friend before leaving.

Jack... He had completely forgotten about her. His life before this. Oh god, how could he forget the woman who had raised him since he was six!

"Jack...." Alex whispered in disbelief. The news was finally settling in to his brain. Like dropping the bomb on him. He suddenly felt empty. Numb. His life was completely new and different than before the kidnapping. He remembered that night clearly now.

He had been arguing with Jack about the burnt pizza she had created when a crash had echoed through the house. Jack had looked surprised and ordered Alex to stay there. She left the room and Alex had frozen at the sound of gunshots and the sound of screaming. He had run to the front hall and his caretaker, Jack Starbright, was lying in a pool of her own blood which was quickly spreading.

"Jack!!" Alex had shouted that night. His eyes had burned with what, he didn't honestly know. He had felt his lungs tighten, his heart constrict, and he had instantly yelled out to her.

"Alex... I love you." Jack whispered to the distressed boy. Alex had grabbed hold of her shoulders and shaken then.

"No! Don't leave me Jack. Please!" Alex yelled out to her. Jack had simply smiled and reached up a trembling hand to caress his cheek. Alex shaking grabbed his arm.

"Take care of yourself..." Jack said to him before her hand gave way and her eyes closed. Alex had been taken over by so much grief, he hadn't noticed the men surrounded him until one had hit him hard at the back of his head with the back of the gun.

Back to the present day, Alex felt overwhelmed and his eyes burned. No.. He would not cry. He. Would. Not. Cry! Alex turned away from the four men who had gathered in the front hall, and he turned about to run towards his room when Wolf had stepped forward and grabbed his wrist.

"Cub.." Wolf began. He stopped short when Alex turned around.

**Author's Note: The beginning of a depression? I wonder if I should... Thanks for all those who answered my curiosity about child habits! If you know anything else that is usually a habit of a child around five. I hope you liked Loyal Tom's reactions. The punishment thing was thought up on the spot and I honestly couldn't resist. I spent a few hours writing this because I was getting anxious to get it out. It was adorable in my head when I pictured it out. I hope you all liked it! Now, how should this next action go about? **

**Chapter Six is titled "The Breakdown". I bet you can guess what that is about. Any advice?**


	6. The Breakdown

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Six "The Breakdown"**

_Alex felt overwhelmed and his eyes burned. No.. He would not cry. He. Would. Not. Cry! Alex turned away from the four men who had gathered in the front hall, and he turned about to run towards his room when Wolf had stepped forward and grabbed his wrist._

_"Cub.." Wolf began. He stopped short when Alex turned around._

Alex's eyes shone with pure grief. His eyes were dead looking and Wolf blamed instinct for what happened next.

He grasped Alex's arms with both of his and held him at arms length, kneeling down. There was no way he'd let that kind of thing happen to Cub. He was only a kid! Mentally 14 and physically 5.

"Alex.." Wolf began hesitantly, "Its alright to cry you know."

"No. It's not. Spies don't get attached." Alex said in a monotone, a light in his eyes dimming. Wolf looked at the boy in disbelief. What on earth had MI6 done to this kid? Alex was slowly closing up to look like the teen that Ben Daniels had met in Fox's place. He was going to suppress his emotions, Wolf noted.

"Cub." Wolf firmly said, "Even spies have to cry sometimes too."

"No they don't!" Alex replied. Alex had unsuppressed anger left it seemed. Letting yourself be suppressed for too long could not be good.. Wolf hatched an idea.

"You're scared." Wolf stated. Alex looked at him in surprise, "You're just a whiny little brat looking for attention."

"How dare you say that!" Alex growled.

"I'm right, aren't I? Jack was probably nothing to you!" Wolf stated.

"Wolf..." Fox said, looking at his friend in surprise. He was taken by even more surprise as Alex suddenly wrenched away from Wolf and aimed a punch at his stomach. It hit but, his body being smaller, it wasn't as effective. Wolf easily blocked the boy's oncoming punches and kicks.

"Jack was my best friend besides Tom! How dare you say she was nothing. You never met her!!!" Alex screamed. He high kicked Wolf and Wolf didn't block as it hit his shoulder. Wolf winced but, allowed Alex to keep hitting him. Each blow was faster and harder as it came and Wolf wasn't able to block some of them. Alex seemed to be having a fit of rage and didn't notice what he was doing anymore.

"I hate you!!" Alex yelled out. He tripped and Wolf caught him, letting the boy hit his chest. He sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, wrapping his arms around Alex and pulling the boy to his chest. Alex trembled suddenly and tears formed in his eyes again.

"Just let it out Alex." Wolf sighed. Alex looked up at him and suddenly something in him seemed to snap. He felt weak and helpless. He dropped his head onto Wolf's shoulder and wrapped his arms around Wolf's neck. He began to shake and for the first time since his Uncle Ian had died, Alex grieved. Tears fell from his brown eyes and wet Wolf's shoulder. Wolf didn't mind as he somewhat awkwardly patted Alex's back. He had no experience with kids but, he knew he needed to help Alex.

Alex cried as hard as he could, his body racking in sobs. For what seemed to be hours later, the sobs calmed down and Wolf blinked before looking at the still body.

"Are you done?" Wolf questioned. Alex nodded into his shirt and leant back, his eyes puffy and red. He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. Wolf really felt idiotic when he inwardly thought of the action as adorable. He shook his head at the thought. Dang! He was getting soft!! Wolf sighed.

"I'm sorry..." Alex murmured. Wolf simply rustled Alex's hair in response. Alex gave a small smile before he looked down at his trainers and bit his lip. Wolf rubbed the back of his neck in irritation at how to handle the next part of this situation. Thankfully Fox came over to them.

"Come on Cub, let's get you cleaned up." Fox said gently. He took hold of Alex's hand. Alex did not protest. 'Must be still in shock.' Wolf pondered dryly. He watched as Fox took Alex up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Fox removed a pair of clean cotton pajamas from the sack they bought and started a warm bath. He stood Alex in front of him next to him and Alex was hiccuping, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Who knew breaking down for nearly an hour could be this tiring? Alex allowed Fox to sit him on the toilet and unvelcro the shoes, pull off his socks, stand him up, and unhook the overalls.

"Are you going to be okay Alex?" Fox asked worriedly. Alex nodded.

"I just miss Jack. Its my fault she got killed. All she had ever wanted to do was move from America to England and be a student. Yet, she became my caretaker. She should have moved back to America when Ian died." Alex said softly.

"Ian is your Uncle?" Fox asked curiously. Alex nodded as Fox pulled off his T-shirt and finished undressing him before lifting him up and placing Alex in the bathtub. Fox found the shampoo bottle and squirted a bit in his hands. He grinned and scrubbed Alex's blonde hair.

"You know," Fox began as he rinsed Alex's hair, "I'm sure Jack would have said something along the lines of 'If dying meant you get to have a second chance, than so be it' if she knew about what happened to you now. I mean, look Alex. You're literally getting to be a kid again. You're best friend is actually alright with this. Look at the bright things of life, I say."

"You're crazy Ben." Alex murmured. He gave a small smile as Fox poked a sensitive side of his stomach.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask. How did you get the bullet wound? When we were sent in to find the agent, that's how we identified you were Alex Rider. Alan Blunt told us to look for the wound."

"I messed with a deadly organization." Alex simply said, feeling exhausted. Fox was quiet for a few minutes.

"This is kind of fun." Fox laughed. Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he smile a little. Fox took hold of the sponge and started to gently apply pressure to Alex's bullet wound. Alex bit his lip at the touch.

"You know," Alex started with a breath, "I keep thinking you guys are treating this like a joke. I'm not even in public and you're still treating me like a baby instead of even a five-year-old let alone a fourteen-year-old. They don't even get carried this much!"

"Honest? I'm an only child. James (Wolf) is an only child. Matt (Eagle) is a younger brother and Eric (Snake) is a younger brother. We're really not that experienced in what and what not to do when taking care of a kid. Even though you have the mental capability of a fourteen year old. the wisdom of an adult, you're still a little kid and the drug that you were given by that crazed scientist was made to make sure you couldn't be a spy again." Ben answered. Alex looked away but, said nothing. Fox smiled and finished cleaning Alex before draining the tub, grabbing the big woolly blue towel, and wrapping Alex in it. He lifted Alex in to his arms.

"Besides... you're cuddly and fun to pick up." Fox teased, hugging the boy. Alex sighed.

"You are nuts." Alex murmured drowsily.

"I'll tone down the coddling if you are more willing to make this work. We're doing this still inside the house because we don't want to mess up." Fox said quietly. He stood Alex up and got him dressed in the cotton pajamas with the blue and white striped pattern. He placed the towel on Alex's head and gave it an air dry. Alex protested at the movement until it was over, his hair ruffled in every direction. Fox couldn't resist that laughter that escaped at the sight of a tired looking 5-year-old Cub in striped pajamas with his blond hair ruffled so badly like he'd been in a race without something to cover his head. Cub yawned again and rubbed his eyes with his fists. Fox responded by picking him up and carrying him to his room. He was slightly surprised to see Wolf, Eagle, and Snake in Alex's bedroom. He simply placed Alex on the spot where Snake had pulled back the covers in the middle of the bed. Alex finally finished rubbing his eyes and blinked in surprise and sleepily.

"Huh?" Was the only thing Alex could manage to say as Fox pushed him lightly on his back and Snake covered him up and tucked him in. Alex found the movement familiar and guessed Snake had tucked him in last night. He half closed his eyes, too exhausted to do anything. K-Unit obviously thought he was asleep.

"Cub. I'm sorry for everything you've been through," Fox said softly, "I still don't even know most of that. I know you work for MI6 and was shot in the chest before. By whom and why? I don't know and I'm afraid to find out now. I just want you to be a normal little kid again."

Alex, through his fogginess, heard the statement and said nothing. He wanted to say that it was Scorpia and because he betrayed them but, he had no energy left to say such a thing.

"Goodnight Alex." Snake said quietly.

"Night Cub." Wolf replied.

"Night Alex," Eagle whispered. Alex in his mind thought Eagle's tone wasn't funny this time and thought that was strange. He didn't dwell on it too long and before he knew it, he lost all process of thinking and was asleep before he knew it.

It wasn't until the next day while Alex was cooking breakfast in the pair of pajamas (he didn't want to change out of them right now. They were pretty comfy) when Eagle burst into the kitchen causing Fox (who was reading the newspaper), Snake (who was chatting with Wolf), and Wolf to look up.

"Let's go to the PARK today!" Eagle said excitedly. Alex ignored Eagle's exclamations before he hatched an idea. The plan was sounding too good a chance to miss. He turned around and put up a fake grin.

"I agree with Eagle. We should go to the park. There is one nearby with in walking distance." Alex said.

"Well... if you really want to go." Wolf said wearily. Alex hopped off the chair he had been standing on and smiled, inwardly smirking. He let Fox place the cooked pancakes on the table and he helped Alex up into the chair before they ate. Alex allowed Snake to take his hand and pull him upstairs and into the bathroom after grabbing a pair of clothes. Alex allowed Snake to dress him as he remembered yesterday when Snake had first done this.

_Snake lifted Alex up on to the bathroom counter and grinned at him. He then picked up the sack and deposited it next to Alex. Pulling out a pair of clothes, he set them on top of the sack and turned to Alex. He began to take hold of the bottom of Alex's shirt and was tugging it upwards. Alex reached out a hand downwards to stop him, blushing._

_"What-t a-are yo-ou doing?" Alex stammered._

_"Getting you dressed." Snake said simply._

_"I can do this myself." Alex pointed out. Snake ignored him, simply pulling the shirt upwards. Alex's arms went up and he bit his cheek to keep from growling at the man. He resisted his natural instinct at kicking Snake as the man undid his trousers and pulled them off him. Alex's cheeks were bright red._ Snake had not replaced his clothes just yet and he examined the bullet wound on Alex's chest with carefulness, analyzing the other bruises and scratches.

"I'm mainly doing this to see how far your body is progressing. You've been hurt a lot." Snake said and if to prove his point, he touched one particularly painful looking scar. Alex winced and Snake looked at him sharply.

"During the remaining time of this... punishment," Snake looked amused at that word, "I want you to promise me you'll allow me to check over your injuries. You've been shot Alex. It wasn't even that long ago."

"I'm alive and breathing aren't I?" Alex had said sarcastically. But allowed Snake this one promise. So now, today, Alex had no real problems with Snake undressing him and looking him over.

"It's getting better at least." Snake said, tracing the bullet wound gently, "that's good to know."

Snake then pulled the dark blue shirt over Alex's head and helped Alex as he pulled the light blue shorts on. Snake gave Alex the shoes and socks and Alex quickly put them on. He followed Snake out the room and they went to the front door. Alex was ahead of them as they walked down the block to the central park.

"I wonder why he's so happy to go." Wolf murmured. Eagle and Fox shrugged while Snake was smiling at the boy. As they neared the park, Alex stopped and turn.

"Play tag with me," Alex stated innocently, making sure he was in front of the parents who were sitting peacefully at the benches.

"You want to play tag?" Fox asked slowly. Alex nodded, smiling at him.

"Why don't you uh.. go play on the playground for a bit before we do that?" Wolf suggested hopefully. He couldn't straight down deny the kid. Parents had heard the boy's request and noticed the four men and one child. Alex looked at him before giving in and running towards the playground.

"I see Cub is more active since the other day," and amused voice said.

"Panther!" Eagle chirped in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Fox asked.

"I live nearby and was taking Ashley over to the park to play around." Panther said, smiling down at the little girl who was latched onto his leg with one hand.

"Ashley, do you see the blond boy over there? That is Cub." Panther said to the girl. Ashley looked up at him and looked at Alex who was going on the monkey bars.

"Why don't you go play with him while I talk to his uncle?" Panther suggested.

"Okay!" Ashley said happily. She ran off to where Alex was and K-Unit watched in amusement as she stopped in front of him. Alex had paused, dropped from the monkey bars and said something to her that had the girl laughing.

"He is so cute! Is he yours?" A woman said, coming up behind Panther. She had directed the question to K-Unit.

"He's my nephew." Fox said, remembering their tale.

"Is she your sister?" Wolf asked.

"Ah sorry, this is my wife Kaitlyn. Kaity, this is my unit Wolf, Fox, Eagle, and Snake. Fox's nephew is nicknamed Cub." Panther introduced.

"Kaity! I made a new friend!!" Ashley's voice rang out. The adults turned their heads to see Ashley clutching a blushing Alex Rider's hands.

"Oh, and who is this?" Kaitlyn asked in amusement.

"I'm Alex." Alex said in a shy voice. He was nervous now. He didn't know how to act in front of her.

"Hello Alex, I'm Kaitlyn. So, Fox is your uncle?" She asked, kneeling down to their height.

"Mhmm." Alex said, another idea forming, "I live with him and Wolf and Eagle and Snake!"

"All four of them live with you?" Panther asked in surprise. Alex nodded. Fox was suddenly suspicious at what the kid was planning.

"Uncle Fox told me that since I'm an orphan, I live with him and Wolf and Eagle moved in with us to keep Uncle Fox company," Alex happily made up, loving that he had control right now and if K-Unit tried to kill him well... they couldn't shut him up right now.

"Keep Fox company?" Kaitlyn began.

"Snake moved in cause of one time I walked in on Wolf and Eagle doing something weird in the living room." Alex answered. Wolf was gaping at the boy's words and Eagle was going red. Snake was snickering at this and Fox was just plain grinning at Wolf and Eagle's misfortune

"Oh really. Doing what kind of weird thing?" Panther asked, also kneeling down. Ashley was looking at Alex curiously.

"Uncle Fox said it was hugging but they were touching each other on the lips..." Alex trailed off at Wolf's murderous glare. He hid behind Panther.

"Calm down Wolf! Alex is only a little boy after all. You're scaring the poor kid." Panther defended Alex at Wolf's growling.

"Sweetie, why don't you and Alex go play?" Kaitlyn suggested.

"I want to play tag!" Alex said to Kaitlyn, looking at Fox and the others.

"You know, that isn't such a bad idea." Panther said thoughtfully. K-Unit shared a look and promised revenge on Alex as soon as this was over. With a sigh, Wolf, Eagle, Snake, and Fox played 'Tag' with a 5-year-old Alex. Let's just say that the boy was pretty fast and energetic. It wasn't until it hit almost dark that Alex announced tag was over. Ashley and him were sharing grins while Panther and his wife were resting on the bench now. K-Unit was just on their knees, panting and sending glares at the boy. Alex had weaved in and out of the jungle gym and like most adults, they couldn't fit and got trapped a lot. Alex had spiced up the fun by stealing Wolf's keys, Eagle's phone, Fox's wallet, and Snake's watch to get the men to keep going.

"You are so going to pay for this." Wolf growled out at the boy in front of him once Ashley ran over to Panther. Alex grinned at the panting man.

**Author's Note: Some have expressed their wonder that Alex is acting like a kid. I am defending myself and admitting. I have only ever read the FIRST Alex Rider book Stormbreaker and I haven't been able to get the others yet. I'm relying on fanfictions I've read for now and the characters are developed how I feel it would help the story. The thumb sucking thing is something that can happen to anyone. He may be mentally fourteen but, his body got reduced down and naturally he can't escape that without his mind somewhat thinking like a child. That insane Circe guy wanted to make sure Alex couldn't give it his all as a spy anymore. There will be times when Alex will attempt to get that instinct back but, for the meantime K-Unit is trying to get him open up. Some of these things I bring up during Alex's first two days are naturally things I've seen little kids go through (I co-worked with a bunch of counselors during my camp days to take care of a lot of 5 to 12 year olds even though I'm 15...) and the drug is doing its 100% job on what it was made to do. K-Unit has never taken care of a little kid and so they don't know what is right and what is wrong. Thank you Wolfmonster for the wonderful suggestions/advice. Alex is about to start having more fun with this new advantage. MI6 will make an appearance sometime in later chapters and other people. Ashley and Kaitlyn made their first appearance. They wont show a lot but, Panther will! I hope you liked it!**


	7. Revenge

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Seven "Revenge"**

"Well, we have to get going." Panther said, "How about we meet up in a few days again. I'm sure Ashley would love to play with Alex again."

"Sure," Fox breathed, worn out, "We'll meet up at the park again or at my house or yours if you want." Panther nodded and picked up Ashley who waved goodbye to Alex. Cub watched the three of them leave before he was faced with four annoyed SAS soldiers. He grinned cheekily at them. They were still at the park. Well... that is until they decided to leave.

"We are leaving. Now!" Wolf barked out. He roughly grabbed Alex by the arm and was dragging the struggling Alex back towards the house. Alex felt he needed to get one last idea out and opened his mouth to scream when...

"If you dare yell Kidnapper Alex, then I'm going to make you wish you really were kidnapped." Fox threatened, tired beyond belief. This got the kid to shut his mouth. Alex tried to keep from walking but, this only irritated Wolf enough that the man stopped his walking and picked Alex up like a sack of potatoes. Alex could see over Wolf's shoulder and felt annoyed that he was being carried this way now. Alex said nothing, simply rolling his eyes at the man. Eagle was half dead on his feet, checking his beloved phone over for any scratches. Snake was snapping his watch back into place. Alex had taken great joy in taking something from each man. It had been challenging. Alex suddenly felt his stomach clench as they entered the house and Wolf dropped him on the counter before stepping back to glare at him.

"It was a joke!" Alex defended himself. Wolf flicked Alex on the forehead. The boy in return winced and put a hand on his forehead.

"You've got Panther thinking Eagle and I are in a relationship!" Wolf shouted at him. Alex gave him a weak grin but that faded at Eagle's red face. Was he really in this much trouble for that comment?

"Now Now Wolf. Alex was just having some fun." Fox tried to help him out, "Even though he did overdo it today."

"I think I have the perfect punishment for him too." Snake suddenly said, grinning. Wolf look at Snake. The man whispered his punishment to Fox who laughed and whispered it to Wolf. Wolf gave him a raised eyebrow before coughing and turning to a fidgeting Alex.

"Since you are acting like a little brat today and stealing everyone's stuff and lying." Wolf looked at him pointedly, "There's only one punishment we can really give you right now."

"And what is that?" Alex asked cautiously. Wolf simply picked him up and carried him to a corner where Fox had a chair facing the wall. Wolf sat Alex in it and grinned.

"A time out." Wolf said. Alex looked up at him in disbelief but Wolf gently and firmly pushed the boy's head to staring straight at the living room wall. Snake, Eagle, and Fox sat on the couch and recliner, sharing their own smirks.

"For how long?" Alex asked as if this was no big deal. Wolf thought for a moment.

"Since you're not a regular little brat. Half an hour to an hour. Surely you can sit still and stare at the wall for that long." Wolf said before sitting down. Alex gave a small sigh and looked at the cream-colored wall. No bricks or specs to count. No cracks. Alex could do this. He was a spy after all. He stared at the wall in determination so that they didn't get the satisfaction of 'punishing' him for his own revenge. With this in his mind, he started to count in his head. One... Two... Three...

...1000... 1001... God this was boring. Alex fidgeted in his spot.

"No fidgeting Cub." Wolf's voice stated. Alex growled at him before he could stop himself.

"That's another 30 minutes in Time Out for growling." Wolf said, you could practically hear the smirk. Alex bit back a retort and continued staring at the wall. This. Was. Boring! Alex lost track of how long he sat there but guessed that it had to be nearing the end of the hour long time out. Alex counted again in his head. He made it to 1300 when a shadow loomed over him. The chair was swiftly turned around with him in it and Alex looked at Wolf with a suffering look.

"It's been an hour." Wolf said in amusement.

"You. Are. Evil." Alex said.

"Hey, this is only the beginning. Now comes the part about being treated like you're fourteen. Drop and give me 50 push ups and 50 crunches." Wolf ordered. Alex slid from the chair and immediately set to doing them. With his body, it hurt like crazy after 30. Alex was panting heavily by the end of it.

"There. Now you just went through what you put us through." Fox said smugly.

"Oh and I'm taking this for a day." Eagle chirped, holding Alex's phone in his hand. Alex glared at him.

"You know. I'm curious how you managed to get my watch." Snake said after awhile.

"You put it on really loosely." Alex retorted.

"Yeah Yeah. It's dark so go take a bath and get to bed Cub. We need to go to Brecon Beacons to report to the Sergeant tomorrow. Nothing about you. We just do this every few weeks when off active duty." Wolf said. Alex obeyed and went upstairs, taking off his sweaty clothes, throwing them in the hamper, and turning on the taps as he grabbed a pair of pajamas and put them on the rack. He got in the shower and relished in the soothing process before reaching up and turning it off. He dried himself off quickly and got changed. He took a peak downstairs to see Wolf in the living room and on the phone with someone.

"Yes sir." Wolf was saying, "Right sir. K-Unit will be coming in tomorrow to report about the Rescue Mission."

Alex didn't hear anything interesting about that and went to his room. He wished Eagle had not taken his phone as it was only 8PM and he wasn't tired. He went to his table lamp and turned it on, turning off the ceiling light. He got into bed after retrieving a book from his shelf. He opened it and as he was reading he looked up to see the Teddy bear from Smithers, sitting innocently on the shelf next to the crayons and toy car. Alex eyed it before crawling to the edge and jumping off the bed. He couldn't remember when he had put the bear there at all... Alex reached up and picked up the bear. He turned it over in his hands and did not hear someone opening his door until too late.

"You know... I never figure you the type for teddy bears." An amused voice came. Alex turned to see it was Eagle.

"N-no it-ts..." Alex trailed off, stuttering. He flushed. Eagle eyed him with a sudden grin on his face.

"You know. You don't have to hide it." Eagle teased, "Every little kid has a teddy bear." Alex tried to put the bear back on the shelf but, Eagle picked Alex up and the bear and deposited Alex on the bed, covering the kid up and placing the bear next to Alex. The boy in question simply looked at him but, knew that once Eagle had something in his mind, he would stick to it.

"Eagle..." Alex said, flushing as Eagle tucked him in tightly and the bear was moved next to his arms.

"Night Cub!" Eagle chirped before turning off his lights and leaving. Alex sighed in irritation before his head turned and he eyed the bear. It was white furred with a camouflage under shirt and denim overalls. Alex picked it up and continued laying on his back, staring at it. He began pondering if he ever had a stuffed bear when he was younger. He couldn't recall a time that he did. Alex bit his lip before he scooted further under the covers and let the bear rest against his left arm. He yawned and closed his eyes. He fell asleep with in seconds once again...

...And didn't wake up until late the next day. Alex heard the sounds of rumbling and cars. He opened his eyes and blinked. He was in the car...

"Morning Cub!" Eagle chirped.

"We took the liberty of getting you ready and everything while you were asleep." Fox said. Alex looked down and noticed with a blush that he was wearing overalls again with a faded green undershirt and Velcro trainers once more. He didn't comment on it but, he did get annoyed to see that Eagle had put the Teddy bear in his arms while he was asleep and the bear in question was being held by one of his arms. Alex did not like knowing that the other hand's thumb was moist. He. Did. Not. Suck. His. Ruddy. Thumb! Alex adjusted himself slightly in the car seat that he was being detained in.

"Panther is going to be up there because he is still somewhat a recruit even though he works with K-Unit." Wolf said. Alex was quiet. He was thinking and did not notice them arrive at the camp place. Fox got out and unbuckled the distracted kid. Alex realized he was still holding the bear and quickly dropped it on the seat before he was pulled out of the car. Fox laughed and settled Cub on his hip. Snake came around with an army hat and he placed it on Alex's head, having sized it for the boy. Alex looked at Snake in confusion.

"They aren't supposed to know you're Cub and you still look like yourself with the blond hair. Only the Sergeant can know that you are Cub." Snake whispered. Alex nodded and grabbed a fistful of Fox's jacket and rested his head on Fox's shoulder, still in his own morning grogginess. Alex was aware of the soldiers who paused in their morning training as they watched K-Unit head up towards the Sergeant's office. One man even stopped by them.

"Wolf?" The man asked in surprise.

"Hey Hawk." Wolf said with a nod in his direction. Hawk started to walk with Wolf.

"So whats with the little kid and Fox?"

"Fox was with us during the Rescue mission and the boy is part of what we found at the area." Wolf simply answered. The man nodded and went back to shooting practice. Eagle, Snake, Wolf, Fox, and Cub made it to the office with ease. The Sergeant told them to enter and was taken aback by seeing the five year old in the arms of his former SAS soldier.

"Report." Sergeant ordered. Wolf took a breath and began to debrief the man of the mission and the results. Sergeant looked thoughtful and incredulous.

"Cub..." Sergeant said slowly, "Come here." Fox placed Alex down and the boy walked over to the man. Sergeant knelt down and examined the young boy in front of him. Alex was standing stiffly and at attention, good to know he still remembered that.

"K-Unit and Fox, Why don't you stay for today and see how far you lot are in fitness and aim." Sergeant stated. They nodded, standing straight like they'd been taught to. Sergeant then gave a grin to them, "I also want to see my soldier's reactions to a little boy running around my camp. Perhaps for some paint balling later on." Alex looked at him in surprise. Sergeant stood up and looked at Alex.

"Cub, I want you to mess with my soldiers. They are going to underestimate you and I know that. I want them to realize a lesson in that. Also, think of it as a chance to recall your own training here." Sergeant commanded Alex. Cub nodded and after a dismissal, went outside. He looked around curiously and tugged the hat on his head to keep it on better. He walked over to the assault course and saw a unit currently in the midst of it. Alex grinned and walked over to the end of it, looking upwards at the men. The unit noticed him but, couldn't say anything as another sergeant was yelling at them to finish. Once they did, they walked over to the kid.

"Whose kid are you?" The man grumbled.

"I'm not allowed to tell you." Alex said in a quiet voice, making sure to raise his voice so that he sounded more like a child.

"Then what are you doing here?" Another man asked. Alex shrugged and this only served to make the unit annoyed. One made a move to grab him but, Alex reacted on instinct with out meaning to. He grabbed hold of the outstretched arm and kneed the male in the balls. The man went white as a ghost and the other men looked at Alex in shock. Alex looked at them with a sheepish smile before he turned sped off before they could react. Alex ran until he was panting as he made it to the shooting range. He peaked at the men currently firing at the targets. Alex silently went over there. Eagle was amongst them, firing off with an air of fondness. Alex smiled and he ran over to Eagle as the man grabbed more bullets. Alex grabbed the tip of the man's shirt and Eagle's eyes trailed down to see Alex before he smile and went back to firing the gun until he was empty once more. Alex was amazed. Eagle was completely focused and serious, unlike the man at his house who liked to crack jokes and tease him like crazy.

"Hey Eagle, what's with the kid?" A man asked.

"He's here to see how we work." Eagle stated simply. He loaded the gun and rustled Alex's hair before aiming carefully at the center and shooting. Eagle smirked when he made his target. It seemed he hadn't lost his touch.

"Hey kid, Why don't you go to the lake? Fox and Wolf are doing laps over there." Eagle suggested after he finished.

"`Kay." Alex said with a nod to his head and he headed towards the man made lake. He had to admit, being back at the camp as a little kid who was ordered by the Sergeant himself to do what he wanted, was rather refreshing. Of course, he had to keep up the little kid act in front of them men as they didn't know he was Cub. Alex made it to the lake and he found Wolf and Fox with another unit. Wolf and Fox spotted him and went back to business as if it was nothing new.

"I had wondered where'd that kid gone." Hawk had stated.

"We're letting him see what Brecon Beacons is like." Fox said simply before pulling off his T-shirt and following Wolf in the lake. Both men found it rather straining because of the bullet wound both of them had on their bodies but, they were halfway across the lake with Hawk's unit watching.

"They haven't lost their touch in the few weeks that Wolf had been shot and Fox had been transferred." Hawk murmured to his friend, Bear. The two turned to see Alex sitting on the ground, watching Fox and Wolf in some fascination.

"So kid... Why are you with them?" Bear began.

"Fox is my uncle." Alex said as if it explained everything. He took one more look before he began to walk off. Bear stopped Alex by putting a hand on the kid's small shoulders.

"Where are you headed to? You're Uncle is in the lake." Bear said. Alex shrugged the hand off but, Bear didn't release his grip.

"I'm allowed to go wherever." Alex pointed out.

"Arrogant little brat you are." Hawk scoffed.

"Nosy old men." Alex shot back. Bear growled.

"Listen kid. We are Special Air Service soldiers and you're a bratty little pipsqueak. I wouldn't shoot my mouth off if I were you." Bear said. Alex shrugged at him again and turned once again to walk away when Bear whirled him around too fast. The grip had managed to cause Alex to get hit by Bear's other hand that had come down to grip the boy's other shoulder. Bear looked at him in shock at what he had just accidentally done. He had managed to hit Alex on the cheek and boy was rubbing it with a wince. Wolf and Fox were swimming back to them, still at a race and having not witnessed any of it. Oh God, Bear thought, he was going to get murdered by the two men. Everyone knew Wolf was protective of his unit and if the kid was Fox's nephew, that made it worse. Wolf also would be murderous for a little kid getting hurt.

"Bear... you just totally ruined your life just now." Hawk said sympathetically. He had been the only one to see, as the other men had gone off before they had started talking to the kid. Alex looked at him in a bit of a stunned expression, having not expected to be hit. As he opened his mouth to say the hit was no big deal, Fox and Wolf had made it to shore and had stopped short upon seeing Bear holding Alex still by the shoulder and Alex's recently turning bruise.

"What is going on." Wolf deadpanned. Bear gulped.

**Author's Note: I had forgotten about my own Smithers Gadgets until now. So I brought the Teddy bear out for the fun of it. Yes Time outs were a thing that are used on five year olds A LOT. The timing might have been harsh but, they were doing this to CUB who has the mental ability of a fourteen year old and not a five year old. They knew it would take longer to get him squirming in a chair. They took his phone cause he took their stuff. He got forced through push ups and crunches because he had worn them out. The time out was the embarrassment. The perfect getting even. I know you CAN get hit like Bear had just done to Alex. My friend had been mean one day when I was walking in the halls, and she spun me around so fast my face hit her arm and I got bruised. Its not fun and it stings only slightly but, outwardly it looks like you got punched. Mainly because its her elbow that got me. Considering Alex's new height, it is probably Bear's hand that he collided with and Bear could have accidentally had it balled into a fist before putting it on Alex's shoulder. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Any suggestions? Any questions? Please do so if you want.**


	8. Brecon Beacons

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Eight "Brecon Beacons"**

_As he opened his mouth to say the hit was no big deal, Fox and Wolf had made it to shore and had stopped short upon seeing Bear holding Alex still by the shoulder and Alex's recently turning bruise._

_"What is going on." Wolf deadpanned. Bear gulped._

There was silence. Dead silence. Not the awkward kind of silence that makes someone scream out "Gay baby is born!" or the kind where you were in absolute boredom. Nor was it the kind of silence that meant someone died. It wasn't even the comfortable friendly silence you get when you're with a friend and ran out of things to talk about. It was the kind of silence that spelt out your death. Anger was in the air and everyone knew who it was coming from.

Wolf. He was seething in his spot as he stared at the quickly turning purple bruise on his charge's cheek. It wouldn't have looked so bad had Alex been fourteen again. But after finding a five year old version of Cub already battered and scratched when he rescued him... This made Wolf absolutely murderous. Hell, it would make anyone like this. Alex was standing there, looking at him with his wide brown eyes. The bruise just ruined the look. His outfit and the small army hat that he wore gave him the added appeals of a small innocent little boy. Therefore it hadn't come as a surprise that Wolf had taken a threatening step towards Bear who quickly snatched his hand back and taken a step away from the kid. Fox had gone pale and immediately went over to Alex, picking the boy up.

"I'm okay Fox!" Alex said in surprise as Fox looked the bruise over. Fox ignored Alex's words and traced the bruise wearily.

"Will someone tell me what happened?" Wolf asked, growling. Bear had paled and really did not want to say anything to the man who's codename fit him like a glove. He had all of a sudden managed to grab the front of Bear's uniform and pulled the man up, growling at him. Hawk decided to save his friend before Wolf tried to bash his head in.

"Wolf, calm down." Hawk had began but Wolf had cut him off.

"How can I calm down when this guy had just hit a 5-year-old boy." Wolf growled.

"It was an accident!" Bear stammered.

"How can hitting a little kid be an accident?" Wolf asked, glaring.

"Bear had grabbed the kid on the shoulder and whirled him around to the point that the kid's cheek got hit by his oncoming hand." Hawk explained hastily. Wolf blinked and looked at Cub for confirmtion.

"He's telling the truth," Cub said quietly, locking eyes with Wolf for a second before the man nodded and released Bear who breathed in relief. Fox let Cub down and the boy looked up at Wolf in confusion as to why the man had reacted like that. Wolf simply gave Cub an awkward smile before Fox gave Alex a little push.

"Why don't you go find Snake?" Fox suggested. Alex nodded before taking off towards the medical tent. He missed the interactions of Fox, Wolf, Hawk, and Bear. Alex pulled the tent flap back slightly and peaked in. He spotted Snake concentrating on wrapping the dummy. He cocked his head to the side in wonder as Snake expertly wrapped the elbow. Alex decided to let himself be known, or fake caught because kids this age weren't as stealthy as him, and Snake looked up at the sound of rustling. He saw Alex and smiled.

"Whose this?" Snake's partner, Jackal, asked.

"Fox's nephew here because we had to report about the mission we were on and we couldn't get him a sitter in time." Snake lied, hoping Wolf's and the other's excuses were close to that.

"And," Alex piped up in a small, yet high voice, "I wanna see how you do things." Snake caught the reason why he said that and gave the boy another quick smile before he frowned as Alex turned his head and the bruise made itself known.

"Alex," Snake said slowly, careful not to say Cub because Jakal had been here when Cub has started his training, "why is there a bruise on your cheek?"

"I tripped." Alex lied.

"You... tripped?" Snake said incredulously. Alex nodded, faking a sheepish smile. Snake tousled the boy's hair and sighed. He lifted Alex up and sat him firmly on one of the tables before going over to a bag and pulling out some kind container. He grabbed a cotton ball and dipped it in before turning around and dabbing the boy's cheek. Alex winced at the touch but, settled as the man finished applying the liquid.

"That should make the bruise fade faster." Snake explained.

"Too bad we don't get supplied with Child aspirin for him." Jakal joked and Snake looked thoughtful.

"I'll remind his uncle about that." Snake said before he went back practice first aid. Alex watched in fascination as the man finished up and grinned at Jackal.

"Hey kid, you want to try it?" Jackal asked, handing the boy a wrap and picking Alex up with an ease, his hands under Alex's arms as he stood Alex on the Matt where the dummies were. Alex looked at the dummies and he did the wraps, finding it challenging as he did so. Snake was laughing at the boy's attempts and it was an hour later that found Alex running out of the tent with a quick bye to Snake and Jackal. He found himself at the paintball course and Sergeant was there. Sergeant spotted him instantly and beckoned him over. 3 other units were with him.

"B-Unit, Q-Unit, and C-Unit; This is K-Unit's ward. You will be doing a little paintball with the kid. If you get hit by him, let's just say the punishment will not be pretty men." Sergeant said as Panther appeared from the racks with paintball guns. He saw Alex and raised an eyebrow.

"What're you doing in Brecon Beacons, is K-Unit here?" Panther questioned the five-year-old. Alex simply nodded and Panther knelt down to help the boy with his equipment. He looked at him curiously when Alex managed to load the gun with the black paint easily.

"My uncle taught me," Alex said simply. It wasn't a lie. His uncle _Ian_ had taught Alex how to shoot a paintball gun when he was around 7. Alex turned to Panther and saw the man pale as he saw the other side of the boy's face.

"What on earth happened?" Panther asked.

"I tripped." Alex lied once more. Panther looked at him before sighing and standing up, running over to Sergeant. Alex trotted over there as the rest of the units went in. Sergeant sent Panther to get something before turning to Cub once they were alone.

"Cub, I want you to try and hit the leaders of every unit if you can." Sergeant ordered, unsure if Cub could because of his size. Alex nodded and he entered the paintball course. He maneuvered himself between two obstacles and spotted B-Unit's leader. The leaders had a special mark on their uniforms. Cub was still in his own clothes because he was too small to fit in one of the suits. He didn't even hesitate or aim really, he just brought the gun up and shot. After so much time spent on him learning to do instinctive shooting, he hit the man right in the stomach.

"What the!?" The man swore violently before looking around for the gun that shot the paint. Alex grinned and hid himself. His size made it two easy. He crawled his way through a path with ease. One man down, two more to go. Alex found the next target; C-Unit leader. It turned out to be Hawk and Alex looked at him in surprise. He let instinct take over and he concentrated on keeping his cover as he slipped behind a tree. He slid the paint gun on his back with the strap and climb up, using the energy of a five-year-old but, the discipline of a teenage spy. Alex sat on a branch, marvelling at how light he had to be to be able to sit on such a thin branch. He pulled his gun back out and immediately shot Hawk three times, one hitting the back of his head, the next his back, and the final hit him in the leg. Hawk cursed much like the B-Unit leader had down. He turned and looked around before he thought to look up. He spotted Alex in the tree.

"Hey kid, you're going to get hurt if you stay up there." Hawk called out, unwilling to hit the kid because he could fall if he did that. Thankfully the boy slid down from the tree but before Hawk could aim a shoot, the kid took off and disappeared. Hawk raised his eyebrows and looked around for another unit. Alex ran and did not hear anyone near him until a yellow paint hit him right in the leg. Alex stopped running and ducked under a bush. He looked around silently until he spotted the shine of a gun. He crawled his way behind the bush, thankful he was so small, and made it to a tree. He stood up and pointed the gun in that direction before shooting. He paused as he heard someone howling. He wondered about that for a second before taking off and starting to search for Q-Unit. He didn't find the leader and the horn sounded for them to return to the entrance. Cub did so and the Sergeant beckoned him over. Snake was there and immediately knelt down to examine him. He found the yellow paint on his leg and Alex shrugged. He didn't want to wear these overalls anyways. Alex turned his attention to the others as they finally came out. He was taken by surprise to see that he had indeed hit Q-Unit's leader... right where it hurts. Alex winced at the black paint splattered on the man's pants. The guy was panting heavily.

"Now for those who didn't know, that black paint was the kid's paint. I'm disappointed that my leaders all got hit by him." Sergeant pointed out. The three men grimaced and Q-Unit's leader glared at the boy who looked at him curiously. Snake chose this moment to pick Alex up and the boy in question could not help the yawn that escaped from him. He was tired all of a sudden, probably because they had spent about eight hours here already and so much had happened. He laid his head on Snake's shoulder and the man cradled him, sensing that Alex was about to fall asleep. Sergeant continued to talk, only barely noticing the tired boy in Snake's arms. When the soldiers left, Sergeant turned to Snake.

"Did one of my soldiers give him that bruise?" Sergeant asked as Alex closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. It didn't help that Snake had purposefully rocked him only slightly. Snake blamed the times he had babysat a 3-year-old when he was younger. That had been the only kid he had babysit because the boy was his cousin.

"He claimed he tripped..." Snake said.

"Right... he tripped." Sergeant said disbelievingly. It was at this time that Wolf, Fox, and Eagle came over to them, each wearing their own sastisfaction.

"He fell asleep again?" Fox questioned. Snake nodded and placed Alex in Fox's open arms. Fox held the boy with ease and laughed as Alex unconsciously nuzzled into Fox's chest and was most likely seconds away from sucking his thumb again.

"You don't seem surprised that he has a bruise on his cheek," Snake stated.

"Bear accidentally hit him when Wolf and I were at the lake with them." Fox explained. There was a sort of quietness before...

"He said that he tripped." Snake said, eyebrows quirked upward.

"I wonder why he said that. Bear had grabbed him on the shoulder and whirled him around to the point that his cheek got hit by Bear's hand." Fox informed them. Sergeant's face was impassive and he spoke indifferently, noticing Panther there and remembering that Panther did not know who Cub was.

"You best head home and put him to bed. Report back here next week to test your endurance." Sergeant dismissed them and left. They walked back to the car and said goodbye to Panther. Fox latched Alex firmly back in the car seat and noticed the bear on the floor. He shook his head in amusement before placing the bear in Alex's sleeping arms. Alex seemed to be familiar with it for he wrapped an arm around the bear and his thumb went to his mouth. Wolf got in the driver's seat and started the engine before starting the journey home. Snake was reading a book, Eagle was texting some girl he met at the amusement park, and Fox chose to listen to his iPod he had bought recently. Alex's head rested against the upper part of the car seat and Fox grinned as Alex shifted slightly, still holding the bear and sucking his thumb. He hated to admit it but Cub made one hell of an adorable sight.

It was about 4 hours later that they made it home. Cub somewhat stirred but, was thankfully still asleep. Fox undid the straps and lifted Alex up into his arms with the bear. Alex dropped his thumb and wrapped an arm around Fox's neck, his head against Fox's shoulder as Fox settled him on his hip. The bear was being held loosely by Cub's hand. Fox carried him inside and handed him off to Snake who took him upstairs to get him to bed and a bath. They heard the water running and faintly heard Alex's sleepy replies as he was awoken by the warm water. A few minutes later Snake was coming back downstairs with a satisfied grin.

"He was too tired to really care that I just gave him a bath and put him to bed." Snake chuckled. Fox grinned before the four men settled around in the living room. Wolf bashed Eagle with a pillow when the man attempted to push him out of his seat.

"You're bad at stealth Matt." Wolf pointed out. Eagle glared and sat on the couch.

"So... today went rather well," Eagle stated.

"Except for the whole Cub got hit and Wolf went on a rampage." Fox said.

"I'm surprised the Sergeant wanted Cub to hang around." Snake admitted.

"Probably because most soldiers underestimate a child, let alone a very small 5-year-old boy." Wolf pointed out.

"You know, he is shorter than even Panther's little sister and she's five." Fox said thoughtfully.

"Could be in his genes." Eagle said.

"Or he doesn't eat the proper amount of food." Snake answered.

The men looked thoughtful before Alex's cell phone vibrated from the coffee table. Fox answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is Alex here?" Tom's hesitant voice rang.

"He's asleep." Fox said simply.

"Oh, I was wondering if I could take Alex with me to the movies tomorrow to see a movie or something." Tom requested.

"That is alright with us. Meet up with him at the movies around 4PM." Fox answered before he said a quick goodbye.

"What was that about?" Wolf asked.

"Tom requested to take Alex off our hands for a bit tomorrow," Fox drawled. They changed the topic and pretty soon one by one, they went to sleep.

**Author's Note: I felt the need to do that paintball scene this time. I had some trouble with writing the reactions of Wolf. I wanted another sleeping Alex episode so... tadah! I am NOT educated in the land of medics and fighting. I'd need a beta who was good with that for this to work and I'm currently still solo working on this story. Meaning there are grammer errors, typos, and everything that comes with me. Sorry everyone! I hope you liked this story. Alex WILL return to Brecon Beacons every now and then to make the soldiers exhausted. Sorry if this seemed short, I wanted to update the story again and all. MinibooExtreme pointed out to me how long it does take to make it from London to Brecon Beacons. Thanks!**


	9. Ill For a Day

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Nine "Ill for a day"**

The sun beamed into the boy's eyes. Brown orbs blinked open and Alex Rider sat up in his bed. He sighed before becoming thoughtful. It had been five days since he had been living with K-Unit. Besides the embarrassing moments, they were different than he had expected. Wolf had taken him by surprise with his anger towards Bear yesterday.

Shaking his head, Alex crawled to the edge and chose to slide down it. He decided not to shower, seeing as Snake had given him a bath (that thought wasn't making him shudder for some reason anymore), and changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. It looked pretty hot outside today, judging by the glare of the sun in his window. He walked downstairs and spotted Fox and Snake in the kitchen with mugs of coffee while Wolf and Eagle were playing on the play station 3. Alex walked into the kitchen curiously.

"Morning Alex." Fox greeted. Snake gave Alex a warm smile before turning back to his book that was at the table.

"Want me to make anything?" Alex asked. Fox shook his head.

"Eric (Snake) finally thought sensible and we bought a bunch of premade food. I can heat up one if you want it. Or cereal..." Fox said, standing up to grab Alex a bowl, spoon, milk, and the cereal box. Alex sat at the table and Fox easily poured a glass of orange juice and put it in front of him. Snake idly noticed the boy had not said any amount of protest and had let Fox do whatever. Maybe Alex was subconsciously becoming dependent on them now? Snake chose not to dwell on it too long and watched Eagle lose tremendously to Wolf during a racing game.

"NOOOOOO!" Eagle wailed dramatically as his red car crashed and the TV flashed Player One (Wolf) Winner. Alex rubbed his eyes, they were feeling still heavy and itchy. Must be from sleeping so long.

"Tom called last night. You are going to meet him at 4." Fox said simply, watching as Alex slowly poured the cereal in the bowl and then his milk.

"Oops..." Alex said, some of the milk spilling.

"Its fine." Fox said with a raised eyebrow. He grabbed a kitchen rag and dabbed the wet spots. Fox eyed Alex as the boy munched on the fruit loops before looking at his watch. It read 1300 so it was 1PM. The boy had slept pretty late today and he had fallen asleep really early yesterday.

"Did you want to see Tom today?" Snake asked in concern upon seeing Alex's frown. Alex looked at him in surprise.

"I do. I'm just getting over my long sleep." Alex explained. He finished his cereal and Fox took it and cleaned it before Alex even moved.

"Drink the juice before you go." Snake ordered. Alex sighed resignedly before gulping the remaining orange juice and sliding off his chair to go watch Wolf and Eagle continue to mercilessly beat each other up in a wrestling game. Alex watched them as he sat quietly in the recliner, yawning. He laughed when Eagle did a victory dance the few times he beat Wolf. Alex went upstairs after a bit and put on a hoodie, feeling surprisingly cold. He placed a baseball cap on his head and put on the Velcro shoes, seeing as he didn't have any other trainers. Alex noticed the time and went downstairs. He saw Fox waiting for him with a grin, holding up the keys to the Ferrari. Alex looked at him questioningly.

"Wolf put your car seat in my car this time so that I can drive you without them coming along. His car is just too big." Fox said with a grin. Alex cocked his head to the side and followed the man to his car. Fox lifted Alex up and strapped him in the car seat with ease. Alex said nothing and did not complain this time, which surprised Fox slightly. He got in the driver's seat and began the thirty minute drive to the mall where the movie theater was.

"You feeling alright Alex?" Fox asked worriedly after he was fifteen minutes there, noticing Alex drifting off in the backseat.

"Yeah." Alex murmured, rubbing his itchy eyes. Fox sighed and continued driving, reaching the entrance. He unbuckled the kid and let him down on the ground. Tom spotted them and ran over to Ben and Alex.

"Hey Al!" Tom said happily.

"Hey Tom." Alex yawned. Tom cocked an eyebrow before shrugging and grinning.

"I'll be back around 7 to pick him up." Fox said to Tom. The teen nodded and ushered Alex away by taking hold of the kid's hand and dragging him to a group of teens.

"So this is who you were waiting for? I thought you were inviting druggie Rider for a second." A boy said to Tom.

"Nah, I got asked yesterday to babysit this kid. He's my dad's co-worker's son." Tom lied, having rehearsed the lie last night so he didn't screw up. One of the girls bent down and cooed at Alex.

"What's your name?" Larissa asked.

"Alle-n." Alex said, thinking of another name on a quick note. Better not say Alex to them. Even if they wouldn't think he was Alex Rider, it would still be weird.

"How old is he?" Another girl, Amanda, asked.

"5." Tom said after thinking. Alex felt Tom tighten his hold on his hand and he cocked his head curiously. It seemed that either Tom hated or crushed on Amanda. There were only 4 others with Tom and Alex; Amanda, Larissa, Jorge, and Richard. Richard seemed pretty much a cool guy with a love for music if the iPod was anything to go by and the music note hoodie he wore. Richard looked at Alex with a warm smile... or rather, Allen.

"So what movie are we seeing again?" Richard asked in boredom.

"We picked that one movie... Bolt. Its a good thing because we have a kid with us." Amanda said. Tom gave her a sheepish smile which Amanda smiled kindly at him, causing a faint red blush to appear on Tom's cheeks. Alex noticed but, chose not to comment. Amanda was pretty with brown hair and blue eyes, a few freckles on her tanned skin, and she was a few inches shorter than Tom. Larissa seemed to have a thing for children because she was constantly cooing at Alex... still. Alex had tried to ignore her, simply staring at her brown eyes and tuning out the babyish words coming from the female's mouth.

"Lissa... I think you're scaring him." Jorge pointed out. Larissa glared at Jorge before looking at Alex's wide eyed appearance and she gave a frown before gushing off apologies.

"Well, the movies starts in a few minutes. Let's go." Richard stated, looking at his watch. Tom tugged Alex's hand to get him to come and Alex obeyed. He felt kind of awkward to have his best friend holding his hand... and he was hardly even near Tom's elbows! He was short, Alex thought, or Tom was just freakishly tall. They got the top seats and settled down. Tom got popcorn and drinks and they watched the movie. An hour -or was it two, Alex couldn't tell- later they were leaving the theater. Alex was inwardly telling himself to never see a movie with them again, at least as a five year old. He had to pretend to be excited like other little kids, when he found the movie somewhat boring and had almost wanted to fall asleep.

"So, where to next?" Jorge asked, texting on his phone. Alex yawned cutely, rubbing his eyes and leaning slightly on Tom. The teen noticed, having been holding the kid's hand, and looked at him inquiringly.

"I'm just so tired today." Alex whispered. Tom nodded and did the one thing he thought was best in this situation... He knelt down and placed his hands under Alex's arms, placing his friend on his hip and keeping a hold on him. Alex gave him a quick glare before he yawned again and wrapped his arms around Tom's neck. Tom was thankful that he played British football, otherwise he wouldn't be able to support the five year old and himself. Tom's other friends had noticed Tom pick up his current charge and had either cooed (Larissa), awed (Amanda), laughed (Jorge), or quirk an eyebrow (Richard) at the teen.

"Let's head over to Sonic and grab a bite to eat. I have about an hour before one of his dad's relatives comes to pick him up." Tom explained. They entered the food joint and sat down, Tom sliding Alex in before him and sitting down. He automatically ordered the usual thing Alex had when he was with him before the whole spy thing. The others looked at him.

"What?" Tom asked, getting his order.

"Why such a weird order for you and a little boy?" Jorge snorted.

"I always get this." Tom said with a shrug. They changed topics after that. Tom placed a burger and fries with a coke in front of Alex who looked at him as if to say 'Do I have to eat all that?'

"You probably ordered him too much food," Amanda noted at the look on the boy's face. She grabbed a plastic knife and cut the burger into fours. Alex looked at her curiously before thanking her shyly, inwardly he felt awkward, and taking a small bite into one of the pieces of his burger.

"Jeez Harris, can't tell how much to feed a little kid?" Richard teased.

"You wouldn't know either." Tom retorted, grinning. They laughed and continued eating before...

"Hey Harris. Whatever happened to Rider? He was taken out of school because of his so called illness." Jorge said. Tom thought about it, having rehearsed this last night while on the phone again with Fox, about what to say.

"Alex went with his caretaker Jack to the states for awhile and is being monitored by Doctors until he gets back on his usual track before his uncle had died." Tom lied. They nodded. Amanda's eyes flickered to the movement of Alex who had suddenly closed his eyes and put his burger back down. He leaned against the wall and Tom looked over as well.

"You can't be that tired, you slept a lot last night is what your ...dad... told me." Tom said in exasperation. He suddenly grew concerned when Alex remained in that position. Frowning, he put a hand on Alex's forehead and his eyes grew.

"Whoa, he's burning up." Richard said in wonder, having put his hand there as well when Tom didn't say anything. Amanda got out of her seat and ordered Tom to pull off the kid's hoodie. Tom hesitated before unzipping the jacket and found Alex's T-shirt soaked somewhat in sweat. Alex was shivering though...

"He has a fever." Amanda responded. Richard started to fan the boy in order to try and cool him off. Tom stood up and pulled Alex out of the seat and held Alex up to his chest.

"Let's head back to the movies. His Uncle is picking him up in a few more minutes." Tom stated, grabbing a Alex's untouched drink before they headed out. Tom was somewhat relieved to know it was colder outside but, Alex simply shivered violently. They ran back, Tom careful not to jostle Alex too much, to the movie theater and Fox was thankfully already there. He got out of the car when he saw Tom's grimace and Alex asleep in his arms, shivering.

"We think he has a fever." Tom told Fox whom nodded.

"Thank you Tom for doing this. I'll take over from here." Fox said to the boy gently. Tom gave Alex to Fox who cradled him with an already practiced ease. The man frowned as he felt Alex's forehead. He swore under his breath before opening the car door and latching Alex in his car seat.

"Mind if I hitch a ride home?" Tom asked. Fox looked at him before allowing Tom to sit next to Alex.

"Bye Tom! Sorry about the little kid." Amanda said, "Maybe... we could hang out again."

"Uh... sure!" Tom said, flushing. He gave her a quick smile before Fox drove off. Tom looked at Alex who looked so small and helpless.

"You don't want to go home, do you?" Fox asked, smirking at the boy. Tom looked away and shrugged.

"I figured you need someone to tell you and those other guys what happened while we were there." Tom answered. Fox nodded in approval and smiled before he frowned as he saw Alex's form in the mirror. They got home quickly and Tom unbuckled Alex before Fox even opened the door. Fox gave him a thankful smile and picked up the five-year-old, cradling him to his chest. Alex did not pull the usual innocent cuddling mood that he normally did, instead whimpering and shivering. Tom followed Fox to the door and opened it.

"Did the movies go alright?" Wolf's voice rang out from the living room.

"Ben? Alex?" Snake asked after there was no reply. Fox carried Alex inside and K-Unit looked over.

"Did he fall asleep again?" Wolf asked exasperatingly before he noti...ced Tom. The teen, on his part, was amused to know that Alex had fallen asleep in Fox's arms before.

"Actually its not a good sleep." Fox said in a strained voice. Wolf walked over and felt the kid's forehead. His eyes widened.

"Jesus! He is really burning up." Wolf said. Snake took Alex from Fox and felt the head from the boy's body, as well as the shivering. Snake suddenly looked up.

"Snake, go down to the store and buy whatever medication needed for him, the child version because his body can't handle anything else. Fox, put Alex up in his room." Wolf said, reverting to his position as the leader. The two men immediately set to doing that, Snake placing Alex in Fox's arms. Fox beckoned Tom to follow and he went to the bathroom.

"Tom, can you grab a pair of short-sleeved pajamas from Alex's dressers?" Fox requested while he started a cold bath. He stood Alex up who had somewhat woken up, and undressed the boy as fast and as easy as he could. Alex tried to weakly push his hands away but Fox completely undressed him and put him in the bathtub with out any trouble. Tom put a pair of camouflage pajamas on the sink counter and stood there awkwardly. Fox quickly and gently scrubbed his young charge, draining the tub, and grabbing a towel. He wrapped the boy in the towel and lifted him up into his arms. Tom had luckily for him, embarassing for Tom, managed to grab a pair of boxers for Alex as well. Fox dressed Alex and placed him in his bed, covering him up. Tom sat on the edge of the large bed, looking at Alex in amazement. Alex Rider was lying restlessly on his back, his arms clutching the sheets. Alex suddenly sat up and started coughing. Alex looked at him pleadingly and Tom automatically ran downstairs, grabbed a bottle water, and handed it to Alex who gulped it down greedily.

"I got almost every different kind of child medicine I could find." Snake's voice rang out. Tom looked through the open door and saw Snake talking to Fox from the stairs.

"How is he?" Snake was asking.

"No change. He can't stand cold water. His friend helped me get him dressed in pajamas that aren't so long and hot on him." Fox answered. The two entered the room. Fox frowned at the sight of the empty water bottle that was next to a sleeping Alex. Snake was holding a sack and a teddy bear in his hands. The man went over to Alex and placed the bear next to Alex before setting the medicines on the dresser. He grabbed the thermometer and manuvoured it under Alex's armpit after unbuttoning the boy's pajama top easily. Snake felt Alex's forehead and frowned again.

"It's a better than when you first arrived with him." Snake said. The thermometer finished and Snake's frown deepened as he saw it flash 103 degrees.

"I'm thinking he has the Flu. He has chills, a fever, and judging by that water ball, I bet he was coughing dryly." Snake answered. He grabbed one of the medicine bottles and popped out a chewy tablet. He shook Alex gently awake.

"Alex, I need you to eat this, alright? You can go back to sleep after that." Snake responded softly. Alex obeyed but, was too out of it to move his arms. Snake sighed and did a head tilt and opened Alex's mouth, placing the tablet in and Alex began to chew it. He swallowed it and Fox rushed to get another bottle water. Alex drank it and promptly fell back asleep, this time holding the teddy bear to his chest with one arm and his thumb being sucked on. Snake sighed in relief.

"He should be better by the morning if that is any indication." Snake informed them.

"That's Good. Tom, I'll take you home now, alright?" Fox said. Tom nodded and said a small goodbye to Snake and Alex before following the man out the door. Wolf and Eagle were in the kitchen and watched Fox and Tom leave before Snake joined them in the kitchen.

"He's just caught a bout of a small version of the Flu. Probably a minor cold. He'll be fine in the morning." Snake assured them.

"Poor Kid." Eagle murmured. Snake and Wolf looked at him.

"What? I can be sensible!" Eagle said defensively.

"Once every few years." Wolf snorted. Eagle mock glared at him before looking thoughtful.

"We should buy Cub a gift! Something that he can have fun being a little kid with." Eagle stated matter-of-factly.

"I think its a good idea," Fox's voice sounded from the doorway. He grinned at them.

"Well then, what do you suggest?" Wolf grumbled. Fox's eyes lit up and he whispered his idea to Wolf who looked at him in shock.

"There is no way in nine tails that I'm going to allow Cub _one of those_..." Wolf said in disgust. Fox smirked at Wolf though and the man sighed.

"Wolf, you can stay here while we go to a shop to fetch it. I know just the place!" Fox chirped. He grabbed his keys and Snake and Eagle followed curiously before Wolf could say anything. Wolf could be heard grumbling about chaotic MI6 agents as they left.

**Author's Note: I wonder if I was just in a cruel mood when I wrote this chapter? Yes Yes! Alex came down with a cold because that's what little kids do, get sick. Poor Tom! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope I'm not losing my touch on the story. There is so much to write before I can change the status to complete. I have a lot of ideas needed to go into the story that I keep writing it each day and fast. All well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I felt that Tom and Alex needed a brotherly/best friend moment. I bet you can't guess what Fox is getting? I hope you liked it!! I know that the Flu usually makes you sick longer but... that's too long for me and let's just say it was a short brief bit of the Flu.  
**


	10. A Gift or Two

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Ten "A Gift... or Two"**

Alex felt hot and itchy still. He ached and just wanted more sleep but, knew he had been sleeping way too long as it was. With a small sigh, he opened his eyes and crawled out of bed with some difficulty, sliding off because he felt he didn't have the energy to jump. He felt better than yesterday though. Alex paused on his way to his dresser upon noticing the various medications on top. He frowned thoughtfully before skipping his shower and dressing, deciding to go downstairs for awhile instead. As he went down he noticed that he had gotten up pretty early in the day. His barefeet padded down the stairs and he peaked sleepily into the kitchen. They weren't there oddly enough...

"Alex! We're in here." Fox called. Alex turned his head to see his four guardians in the living room. He raised an eyebrow at them before Fox beckoned him over. Alex walked in and stopped in surprise at what he saw. Next to Fox was a golden colored furry little dog. Possibly a Golden Retriever puppy. The pup was sitting happily down beside the man's legs until the pup spotted a little boy enter and she happily ran over and pounced the child.

"Her name is Abby." Snake told the fallen kid. Abby licked the boy's face happily. She loved little kids, cause they were always so adorable and liked to follow you. Already, Abby knew she would protect this new pup. He would be her young master, she decided to herself.

Alex, in the meantime, was laughing as his face was licked all over. Eventually, Eagle distracted Abby with a dog chew toy. Alex stood up and walked over to the coffee table where a basket was set, covered in something. Alex curiously, at Ben's insistence, opened it to reveal sets of water guns and a British football.

"We thought you'd might like a few toys to play around with that make you look like a little kid outside but, you can be yourself with them." Fox said happily. Alex grinned at him.

"Thanks! I like them... and Abby." Alex said. At the mention of her name, Abby looked up causing Alex to laugh. Fox's phone went off and he answered.

"Ben here." Fox said. He paused and then walked out of the room, probably a private call. Wolf sat down and lounged about, watching TV. Eagle joined him and Snake went off to probably set up the dog stuff that was recently sitting innocently in a corner next to the TV. Abby sat obediently next to Alex who had still been standing. Alex noticed the dog was to his upper chest and smiled. He eyed the ball before picking it up and running to the backyard. He stood on his toes to open the door and Abby followed him as he went outside and started kicking his new ball around.

"Come on Abby!" Alex shouted, suddenly grinning. He kicked the ball up and Abby suddenly nosed it, causing Alex to knee it back at her. Abby pawed it back and soon they were kicking it against each other. Alex stopped as he heard his name, and turned to find an upset Ben.

"Alex, don't leave the house without telling anyone!" Ben scolded once Alex was within reach. Ben picked up Alex, to the boy's protest, and carried him inside, sitting him on the counter.

"You know how we went to Brecon Beacons because we needed to report and all?" Ben asked him, Alex nodded.

"Ben needs to go back to work for MI6 and we need to go to the SAS training camp for two or three days instead of a week because the Sergeant knows we have you." Wolf said.

"So that meants you'll be left with me for at least two or three days. Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones phoned me to say that it is alright to bring you with me to work." Ben explained. Alex looked at him in amazement. He wouldn't be going to the bank for a mission this time. Alex nodded before Ben looked sheepish as he said the next thing.

"They recommend we disguise you from now on because your blond hair apparently makes you look completely like your father. So while shopping, Snake bought -"

"-Brown Hair Dye." Snake said, holding up the bottle.

"What? No!" Alex said in shock. He did NOT want to lose his blond hair. It was his natural hair color, a deep faded blond hair color.

"Please Alex. Its easier than you having to wear a hat every time you leave the house to meet someone you knew before this." Fox said softly. Alex looked at him, his bottom lip trembling before he could stop himself. He was still somewhat sleepy and subdued. Fox felt guilty for doing this to the poor kid.

"Fine..." Alex murmured. Fox slid him over to the sink and looked over the instructions. An hour or two later saw Alex looking up at Fox with his bright brown eyes that now matched his hair. Fox bit his cheek to keep from commenting on how... adorable Alex looked with brown hair. He simply stood Alex on the floor and pulled him along to get him ready to leave for The Royal and General Bank. Another hour later found Fox carrying Alex to his car. Alex had thankfully dressed himself this time and had worn faded blue jeans with a red T-shirt that had Micky Mouse on the front. Abby could be seen whining (meaning, barking and all that) to go with them but, Wolf kept her inside. Fox settled the protesting Alex into the car seat.

"You really were sick yesterday. You didn't fight me at all and today you are going crazy at me!" Fox grumbled as he struggled to snap the straps in place. Once that was done, Fox handed him the bear that he had snatched from the room and Alex eyed it before deflating and holding it in his arms, laying his cheek against the fur. It took awhile but, Fox parked in the parking lot of the bank and opened Alex's door before unstrapping the kid and pulling him out of the car. Alex tried to throw the bear down but Fox caught it and gave it back to an irked Alex, placing the boy on his hip. Fox locked his car and carried Alex in. Alex glared at Fox before keeping a grip on the bear with his arms.

"Ben." A man said simply.

"Chris." Fox responded, nodding his head. Alex was carried onto the lift and Fox hit the fifth floor. The door opened moments later and Ben let Alex down, taking hold of Alex's free hand and tugging him along towards an office with the plaque "Ben Daniels" on it. Alex was dragged inside and he looked around in curiousity. There was a small loveseat under the window and a a desk facing the door and window. A painting of the sky was hung behind the desk and there was a filing cabinet in two of the corners. There was a computer on the desk off to the side of it and an American flag displayed off the top of one of the cabinets. Fox set down a backpack that he had brought with him, on the couch, and lifted Alex up to the sofa before sitting at his desk.

"There are a few things in there you can do while I work. We'll be here about 10 hours because I'm catching up on all the work I haven't been able to do." Ben answered before opening a file and boredly beginning to read it and type whatever it was into the computer. Alex looked at him for a moment before putting his teddy bear down and unzipping the backpack. In there was a spiral notebook, a coloring book of Spy Kids (Fox had been amused an bought it earlier), crayons, pencils (mechanical), a bouncy ball, a DS with a bunch of games, Alex's iPod (the boy did not want to know how Fox got a hold of that), a bunch of army men (Alex was amused by that), and a water gun from earlier. Alex looked at it and picked up the DS. He put in Mario and started to play it for awhile. He looked up upon hearing the sound of the door opening.

"I see you're finally back Ben! Oh, and who is this?" A woman's voice exclaimed.

"Hello Kayla. This is my ward for awhile." Ben said. He looked to Alex to see if he had a name he was using for a disguise.

"Hi, I'm Allen." Alex said in his fake high voice, using the name he gave his former classmates. Kayla gave him a warming smile and leaned on Ben's desk. Alex paused his game to study the two. Ben seemed to have this spark in his eyes as he talked to her and Kayla seemed... interested in him. Alex suddenly smirked inwardly, an idea forming in his mind.

"So you're that Kayla?" Alex asked innocently.

"That Kayla?" Kayla and Ben chorused.

"The Kayla that Ben always talks about when he comes home." Alex stated as if it were obvious.

"What does he say?" Kayla asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"How pretty and nice she is and he always says Kayla is amazing and all that." Alex lied easily, smiling. Ben was flushing a deep red and glaring at Alex's lies while Kayla was hiding her shock rather well. Inwardly, Kayla did indeed like Ben and the man inwardly had the same feelings. But, Alex did not need to be doing this!

"Oh really?" Kayla said, smiling at the little boy. Alex nodded.

"Can I go see Smithers?" Alex suddenly asked Ben. The man was seething in his little calm way that he normally did before he sighed.

"I could take him there if you want," Kayla offered.

"No, it's alright. He needs to stay. where. he. is." Ben said, stressing each word towards Alex with a glare. Kayla laughed and said a quick goodbye to Ben and Alex, saying she'd see him at lunch break.

"Alex..." Ben growled. Alex looked at him with an angelic smile that made Ben's anger wash away. He muttered a few choice of words before shaking his head and going back to his work.

"Just so you know, I'm informing Wolf about this and giving you a timeout again." Ben stated simply. Alex looked at him in surprise before pouting. Ben stopped.

"Are you... pouting?" Ben asked incredulously. Alex immediately stopped his pouting.

"Nope." Alex said a little too quickly.

"Then what was your bottom lip sticking out for?" Ben asked.

"It was..." Alex was at a loss of words to answer him with. Ben smirked before returning to his work. Alex bit his lower lip to keep the pout from coming back and he settled back with the bouncy ball and started tossing it at the ceiling and catching it until Ben sighed in exasperation.

"You're going to make the person in 6th floor come down here and murder you if you don't stop that." Ben scolded. Alex stuck his tongue out at him childishly and switched to setting the army men on the floor and sneaking a water bottle from the mini fridge. Checking to make sure Ben wasn't watching any of this, he poured some water into the water gun. With a grin, he sat on the couch and shot each and every army man without hesitation or aim. Ben looked up, unfortunately after Alex had shot at them, to see Alex grinning with the water gun and the soaked floor with the army men all on the floor.

"Alex..." Ben sighed in irritation. He checked his watch and thanked the lord it was lunch break now. He quickly grabbed Alex from the couch, exchanged the water gun for the teddy bear, and carried Alex out of his office and into the elevator where Kayla was already walking into.

"Any problems?" Kayla asked, amused to see Ben's irked twitching.

"He soaked my carpet and managed to almost make a crack in my ceiling." Ben growled out, keeping his hold on Alex tighter. The boy in question wriggled slightly while holding his bear with one arm and the other clutching Ben's shirt.

"How old is Allen?" Kayla asked.

"5." Ben said shortly. Kayla laughed and the elevator door opened. The two walked towards the lunch area. They quickly got their food and sat at a table. Ben firmly sat Alex in his chair, whispering a threat to make Alex's timeout possibly 3 hours and an hour with Wolf of sit ups and push ups, before they began eating their lunch. Some of Ben and Kayla's floor mates joined them.

"Ben and Kayla? What's with the little boy between you two. I'm wounded you two didn't tell me," a man joked.

"Knock it off Jake." Kayla laughed.

"He's my ward for awhile. Son of a former MI6 agent." Ben stated. Well... that was actually true.

"Which one?"

"Classified and you know that." Ben scolded lightly. He checked to make sure Alex was eating his sandwich before turning back to his conversation.

"Hey, whatever happened to that Alex Rider boy that came here?" One of their colleagues asked. It was Gabe from the 2nd story offices.

"Who knows." Kayla said with a shrug. Ben could practically feel the amusement from Alex.

"So boy, what's your name and age?" Jake asked lightly.

"I'm Allen and I'm 5." Alex responded easily. 'He is good at lying' Ben thought to himself.

He finished his lunch and said goodbye to his colleagues before taking Alex's hand and pulling him back to his office. Ben looked sternly down at Alex.

"Clean this up and then sit quietly for the next couple of hours." Ben ordered. Alex was quick to obey, because of the tone Ben had used was similar to Ian's when he was younger. The 'you are in deep trouble if you don't do this right now' tone. Alex put his army men in the bag and sat on the couch with a thoughtful frown. He remembered the last time his Uncle had used that voice. He had been eight and had managed to drive his remote controlled helicopter into a window of the house which destroyed whatever Jack was cooking and also half the kitchen. Ian had remained calm while Jack had lectured him endlessly. Ian had then ordered him to clean it all up because of the problems he put Jack through.

Jack... Ian. It was hard to believe that it was last year that he had the life of a teenager, a life where he thought his uncle did boring things. It was only 2 weeks or so ago (having been kidnapped for a week) that Jack was cursing MI6 and fretting about Alex's bullet wound nonstop, always trying to cheer him up. Alex wondered what his parents were like, and if Ash would have made a cool godfather had he not betrayed Alex's father, John. Alex tried to imagine him as a five year old and how his father and mother would be like. When that failed, he tried to remember what it was like being with Ian at that age. He remembered not celebrating his birthdays, holidays, always being alone... Ian had always been gone and had hired sitters for him that Alex managed to torture relentlessly because he hated them. They were always so strict and boring. There had been a time Ian had left without any warning and he had been at school. With no one to pick him up, Alex had begun walking home. He had walked miles, getting lost, before he got home and found the house empty. Feeling confused, the 5-year-old boy had made himself a small sandwich. There was food in the fridge thankfully. He had known what to do if his uncle hadn't shown up, he'd been taught that way since he could walk. Alex had shyly used the money in the drawer to buy more food when he ran out. It had been a week later that his Ian returned. Alex weakly remembered the words out of Ian's mouth as he walked into the house that day.

"Oh god Alex, I forgot about you." Ian had exclaimed. Alex had trembled and locked himself in his room for a day, barricading it and not talking to Ian for days until the man had to leave again and had left Alex a note and a sitter, since Alex would not talk to him. Ian had come home two days later with a broken arm and bruises. Alex had cried and latched onto Ian, exclaiming apologies for ignoring him.

Shaking his head of the memories, Alex closed his eyes and tried to remember more times. He laid down and thought of when Jack first came, her giving Alex his first birthday party ever when he was 6, Tom becoming his friend, and many more. He fell asleep to the memories of his childhood.

Hours later, Fox grinned as he finished the last paperwork. He looked over, suspicious of the quietness, to see his sleeping charge. Alex was lying on his side, sucking his thumb and clutching his bear. He looked so small and innocent doing that. Ben zipped up the backpack and tucked it away in a corner of he room before lifting Alex into his arms and carrying him to the car after saying goodbye to Kayla. He strapped Alex in his car seat and drove him home. Fox carried Alex upstairs and changed him into a pair of pajamas. Tucking him in, he whispered a goodnight to the boy before leaving the room. Wolf, Eagle, and Snake had already left for the training exercise. Fox sighed and put in a random movie, falling asleep on the couch. Abby waited until Fox fell asleep before pawing her way into Alex's room, jumping up, curling into a ball, and sleeping right next to her young boy. Alex was hers, Abby said with a wag of her tail. She'd protect him. Abby fell asleep as well within minutes, dreams of her young master, her older masters, and her.

**Author's Note: I didn't realize this until I finished the chapter but, the title says a Gift or Two. I made it to the two digit numbers in this story (Chapter Ten) and spent 2 days thinking on the best course of action with this chapter. Alex needed a puppy, that's all I had to say. I felt like Fox should have to take Alex with him to his work. I had a sudden inspiration for a story and once this one is completed, I might start it. I wont reveal it or anything. That wouldn't be fun. Fox gets his moments with Alex and I'll let K-Unit each have a bonding time with him. I'm 15 and even I have the nerve to start shooting a water gun at little army men when I'm at my friend's house. Sitting in a boring old office with nothing to do can cause even a young adult to start throwing a ball in the air or causing havoc. I hope you liked it. _The Scene with Ian is use from amitai's In Loco Parentis _with a few modified tweaks to it. If you find any kind of scene in more stories from now on, I apologize and will either take it out or ask for that author's permission and credit them in the future. I don't want to take anyone's ideas.**


	11. Complications

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Eleven "Complications"**

Sometimes life involved unfairness for reasons unknown. People act the way they do because of the way they were raised, treated. There is no same person, always somehow a difference. Expectations kill and pressure murders. One thing that mankind can not take away is the will to feel, to express. That was something MI6 could never take away from him, right? They had taken away his life as a 14 year old teenager living with Ian and Jack, thrusting him into a life where he couldn't fit in with his peers anymore. Whatever the reasons that life gives someone, there are different ways that they are handled... Alex was sitting in the backyard, petting Abby as he viewed the sky. He closed his eyes and relished in the feeling. The wind blowing through his hair, touching his cheek gently. It was nice. It felt like freedom to him. The air was almost a person, brushing against his closed eyes as he unclosed them and looked up at the sky. So endless and pure... He was unaware of K-Unit watching him through the windows. Wolf was sipping his coffee quietly, narrowing his eyes as he studied Cub. Snake was conversing with Fox while Eagle was amusing himself by fiddling with a spoon on his nose. The man was weird. Abby was lying next to Alex, half asleep, her head nudged under Alex's hand.

"So, how was the three days that you were left with him?" Snake asked. Fox gave an exasperated look at his friends as he put his tea down. Yes, he had tea when it neared lunch. Wolf just had coffee at any hour of the day he saw fit. The man was hard to understand.

"The first day, he got my carpet wet and told one of my co-workers that I liked her. The second day, he had gotten a skateboard from Smithers, with some kind of speed added into it, and had crashed into a garbage can. The third day?" Fox shivered, "He managed to somehow get a hold of a tranquilizer gun and had shot it at Alan Blunt. So far he managed to earn himself a total of five hours worth of time outs that I've given him at the office. He owes 3 hours with you though."

"I'll see that it happens then." Wolf said, smirking.

"Jeez that kid is either stupid or brave. He shot the head of MI6!" Eagle cheered. He had dropped the spoon on the table with a clatter and grabbed a plastic straw from a bag on the counter, popping one in his mouth and biting it. One big kid, that's what defined Matt aka Eagle.

"I thought that brown hair dye was permanent." Snake said suddenly, noting the _blond_ hair that was ruffled, belonging to one Alex Rider. He looked at Fox for an explanation.

"It turned out to be washable and Alex hid from me for hours so that I couldn't apply the permanent one. So I stuck with the washable brown dye for when I have to take him to work." Fox answered. Fox dryly remembered having to look for the kid after seeing Alex get out of the shower and turning up with blond hair instead of his dyed brown. He had found him on the roof and by the time he got up there, Alex had slid down the chimney and ran again. It took a promise to dye Alex's hair with the washable only, to get him to go to work with him. (Alex had to see the title of the bottle and made Fox test some of it on his hair for proof).

"Threatened him yet?" Wolf asked.

"I threatened to buy a playpen and stick him in it like a baby if he was going to keep acting like one." Fox sighed. They looked outside to see Alex wrestling with Abby. The retriever was a very stubborn dog and had taken it upon herself to be Alex's protector. Alex enjoyed Abby's presence and constantly played British Football against the dog or just sat around and played with her. Abby was good company for him. Fox checked his watch. It was lunch time now. That was another thing he had finally taken notice.

They always forgot to eat dinner. Sure they ate breakfast but, they didn't remember lunch as often. Maybe it was because all five of them were trained and went days without food sometimes. Ben had grimaced that day upon noting that and had immediately taken Alex shopping (the boy put up a fight upon being placed in the basket again) and with Alex's help, they had purchased premade dinners and simple things. Alex had also offered to cook again but, Ben didn't want Alex getting burned by an accident because of his small body. Breakfast was alright for Alex to cook when he wanted to though. Ben had become more of a father figure, or very older brother, and made sure Alex ate three meals a day this time. Now, Ben noted that it probably 10 days since becoming Alex's temporary guardian. It was only a day since become his permanent guardian...

Guardian... He wondered when he would tell Alex. While at work, Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones had requested a meeting with him yesterday. Alex had been left at home with Wolf, Snake, and Eagle (that had been a strange day for those four, Ben was sure of it) and Ben had been told that they were somewhat close to a solution. They knew how long it would take now.

A year. The antidote would take at least a year to create, that they knew of because of the timing of the compounds that the chemicals held, the time would be long. So, knowing this, Blunt had requested Ben to take full time guardianship of the boy. According to Jones, they had even been considering it since Alex's rescue. Making Ben, Alex's adopted father of a sort until he reached the age of 18.

Ben had looked at them in shock before he paused.

He had said yes to the agreement and signed the papers. When K-Unit got back yesterday morning, he had promised to tell them tomorrow everything.

That tomorrow was now today.

"Ben?" Wolf asked, sensing Ben's uneasiness.

"Yesterday Alan Blunt gave me a job and I took it..." Ben admitted.

"If its a mission, there is no way you should -" Snake was cut off.

"It's not a mission or anything that requires me to leave. It involves Alex."

"Alex? You know, we haven't said Cub for awhile now." Eagle mused, grinning. Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Well... Apparently since Alex's rescue, they had been thinking about this and well..." Fox paused, at a loss of words to say.

"What?" Wolf growled, getting impatient.

"I agreed to being Alex's permanent guardian until he turns 18." Fox blurted out before looking away. It was quiet.

"So even if he gets back to being 14, you'll be his guardian?" Snake asked slowly. Fox nodded, turning to spread peanut butter on a sandwhich instead.

"Does Cub know?" Eagle asked suddenly.

"Nope." Fox said shortly, biting his cheek. Wolf eyed him.

"Tell him when he comes inside." Wolf ordered. Fox looked at him in surprise before sighing and nodding. He finished making the sandwhich and cut it in half.

"I found out while you were gone that he hates crust. Something about his uncle and not cooking." Fox said to their questioning gazes. He poured milk and then opened the backyard door to call in Alex but Eagle stopped him.

"I wanna sneak up on him," Eagle whispered, seeing Alex's turned back. He tiptoed over to the kid and put a hand on his shoulder. As soon as he did, however, he didn't get the expected reaction.

Alex had been relaxing when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Abby had stood up and began barking in surprise. Alex didn't think about it. He gripped the hand in his small ones, stood up and spun, his foot flying upwards high into the air and...

... hitting Eagle in his manhood. Alex dropped the man's arm out of shock.

"Jeez kid," Eagle wheezed. Alex looked at him sheepishly, inwardly wondering why he had reacted like that now after spending more than a week with them in this body.

'Idiot,' Alex mentally scolded himself, 'They haven't snuck up on you since you got here.'

But how come he hadn't thought about any of his missions lately? Was he forgetting things?

The thought scared him.

"Ignoring the moron who snuck up on you, I need you to come inside for lunch Alex," Fox said, ignoring Eagle's groans of pain. Alex bit his lip but, followed him inside. He allowed Fox to life him up and sit him in his chair.

"Alex..." Fox began hesitantly after Alex began to nibble on his sandwhich. Alex looked up and saw Fox's hesitation.

"Yesterday at work I got called in to Alan Blunt's office to talk... about you." Fox continued. Alex frowned, not liking that.

"They want me to do another mission, don't they?" Alex said.

"No! Of course not... We were discussing... guardianship." Fox admitted.

"Guardian... ship... of me?" Alex asked, wearily.

"Yes. Officially, they had made me your permanent guardian until you turn 18 years old." Ben finished, noting Alex's reaction. Alex looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes.

"My permanent guardian? You mean, like a father?" Alex said faintly. Fox nodded. Alex stared in shock for awhile before he abruptly slid out of his chair and ran out of the room. They heard his bedroom door shut.

"Well, that went well." Wolf said lightly. Fox glared the K-Unit's leader.

"I'll go talk to him," Snake offered. Fox shook his head.

"I'll do it," Fox stated before he walked upstairs.

Wolf turned to the open door where Eagle was leaning against the frame, panting heavily.

"God you're weak Matt," Wolf laughed. Eagle glared at him and let's just say Wolf would have lost a life if glaring could kill someone. Well... maybe not Wolf. The man was immune to the glare, Eagle mused, holding his precious family jewels while limping to the table.

Meanwhile, Fox knocked softly on Alex's door.

"Go away," Alex's voice echoed.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Al." Fox said. He opened the door, after easily picking the lock, and walked in.

"Why won't you - Go. Away!" Alex said in anger, seeing the man waltz into his room.

"Because, we need to talk about this." Fox said firmly. Alex was laying on his bed and had sat up at seeing the man.

"What's there to talk about? I never have a say in my life." Alex muttered bitterly. Fox sat on the edge of Alex's bed. Alex scooted away from him. Ben sighed.

"Alex... you realize that you are ... were... MI6's ward ever since Ian had died." Ben told him, remembering the name of Alex's uncle.

"Don't remind me," Alex huffed.

"Well, you are also physically 5 and it would only be a matter of time before you were shipped off to an orphanage. Even with the antidote for this..." Ben said.

"You just don't get it!" Alex said in an angry voice, "Ever since Ian died, they **blackmailed** me with Jack, to _make_ me a spy. I saw people **die**. I _killed_ people!" Alex was almost having a pure fit at this point, ranting about himself being a murderous monster, a tool. Ben, who was looking at his charge in horror, stopped him by grabbing him by his shoulder and shaking him slightly.

"Alex. Alex! Listen to me. You are not a murderer. Those people chose to do those horrors. God Alex, I'm sorry that you've had to go through so much." Ben was suddenly feeling... what? Regret? Anger? Guilt? He couldn't identify it but, he looked at Alex whose lips were quivering and his eyes shined slightly.

"I love you like a little brother and kind of like a surrogate son. Now, its official. On papers. I don't want to take anyone's place but, I'm guilty to say that I'm glad it was me and no one else. I don't want you to be forced to live with someone you hardly met or something, knowing MI6!" Ben said, his own feelings catching up with him.

Alex looked at him. A Little Brother? A Surrogate Son? The words were beginning to register in Alex's brain and he choked slightly before he felt Ben pull him to his chest. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes burning; Alex buried his head into Ben's shirt and tears leaked out against his will. Stupid child's body, Alex absently thought as he shook and began to cry. Ben simply leaned against the wall on his bed and pulled Alex closer, rubbing the boy's back absently.

"I hope that now that I am your guardian, I can stop MI6 from using you. I want you to be happier, Alex." Ben whispered. Alex continued to cry, gripping a fistful of Ben's shirt tightly. It seemed to go on for hours before Alex looked up at Ben.

"I'm sorry..." Alex said softly, his cheeks stained in salty moist tear streaks. His eyes red-rimmed. He leaned against Ben who tightened his hold on Alex.

"There is nothing for you to be sorry. You were angry that a decision concerning you had been made against your will." Ben said, smiling at Alex's faint blush that came about as he said this. Alex simply leaned his head on Ben and rubbed his eyes.

"I just don't see why they think I can't take care of myself," Alex said.

"You can take care of yourself Alex... but, you forget that even an adult needs help. James (Wolf) can't even keep his plants alive at his old apartment!" Ben chuckled. Alex, who had closed his eyes for a second, looked up at him.

"Why are they helping, if you are the original guardian?" Alex asked after he thought about it.

"Eric (Snake), Matt (Eagle), and James all had flats that they hardly ever took care of or lived in. When I got asked this, I requested them and they are not on duty because of Wolf's shot. I'm on desk duty because of my arm and only a replacement agent for when they are desperate for an agent. Besides, this way its cheaper for all of them, to have one house to live in." Ben explained, "They go back to the camp to refresh their training every other week and because of circumstances, for 3 days instead of the usual 2 weeks you get when you're off duty."

Alex hummed in acknowledgment. They heard Snake's cell phone ringing (a distinctive Scottish ring tone) and heard Snake's faint hello.

"Alex," Fox began somewhat later, "Are you going to be alright with me... you know?"

"Being my adopted... f-father? I guess so... It'll take even longer getting used to that than it does being five." Alex admitted. Fox stood up after Alex sat up and stretched. Fox raised an eyebrow as Alex stood up to jump. Before Alex made it to the floor, Fox caught him midair.

"I wouldn't advise jumping off the bed. I'm getting you a stool then." Fox firmly stated. Alex rolled his eyes as Fox stood him on the floor and took his hand, pulling him downstairs. Snake appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, spotting them.

"Panther calls. He invited us over to his house for dinner, and he says Ashley is dying to see Alex again." Snake said with a grin.

"Alright." Fox said calmly. Alex simply pat Abby as the dog trotted over to him.

"So," Wolf said lazily, "I take it the whole Father/Son deal got sorted out?"

"James," Fox said exasperatly. Alex looked at Wolf, having not expected the man to joke. Fox took note of the blue shorts and white T-shirt that Alex wore and grinned.

"Back upstairs you go," Fox stated, tugging him back to his room.

An hour later saw Alex pouting as he sat in his carseat of Wolf's car (which now that he noted it, was a van... not a volvo. How on earth did he mix those two up?) and glared at Fox who grinned back at him. For now, Alex was dressed in denim overalls with the usual camouflage undershirt, velcro sneakers. There were rabbit prints on the overalls and he had a green camouflage baseball cap on his head. Fox had made him wear a jacket, because of the chilly night. This was ridiculous! Why did four SAS soldiers (One of them a former and now an MI6 agent!) take joy in dressing him up in these kinds of clothes? Wolf eyed Eagle who was sitting in the front seat, chatting away to Wolf who kept telling him to shut up. Maybe he could tell Panther more about the... couple (Alex snickered inwardly as he thought that).

They made it to Panther's house and Alex noted, as Fox took him out of the car seat, the two story house had a sort of comforting air about it. Fox opted to carry him in and Wolf rang the doorbell. Panther answered.

"I see you made it!" Panther laughed.

"It took a little longer because Fox was being a girl on us." Wolf said easily.

"Nu uh! It's 'cause you and Eagle were hiding in a closet together again," Alex lied convincingly, giving off his innocent 'I'm a little kid and don't know any better' look like at the park. Panther grinned as Eagle and Wolf turned red in the face. Fox simply smiled, whispering a small thanks to Alex for getting revenge on Wolf for him.

"Chris!! Is Alex here yet?" Ashley's voice whined.

"Oh, come in you guys." Panther said, remembering that they were on the porch, "Yes Ashes, he's here." Fox put Alex down who glared at him as if to say traitor before turning to see Ashley smiling at him.

"Let's go play and leave the grown ups to be boring." Ashley said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Alex was dragged against his will and Fox simply chuckled. Alex was taken into Ashley's room which nearly blinded him. The walls were painted pink with a double bed (with a step stool on the edge) against a wall, a net flowing over it (of course all pink and white). There was a tall doll house with dolls **everywhere** and Alex, to his horror, saw the open toy chest with little girl toys and dresses.

"Let's play dress up!" Ashley chirped. Alex grimaced.

This would not bode well. Not. At. All...

**Author's Note: I skipped time a little bit ahead and explained everything in this chapter. I hope this answered people's questions.**

**Yes Alex is more innocent in this story than he really is. How many times do I have to repeat myself? (Not to sound rude...) I have ONLY read THE FIRST ALEX RIDER BOOK in the series. I read most of the fanfiction only. I am trying to get ahold of the other 6 so please stop saying they are too OOC. I'm trying my best at keeping them in character. Also... I've said this in almost every chapter.**

**The drug is doing things to Alex's mental ability and not just his physical appearance! So of course he'll get emotional and not get all "Blank mask" on them. How many more people are going to ask me that? How many are not going to be listening to this Author's Note I wonder? (Ponders over writing a spoiler in the note... nah...) Moving on. I felt Fox needed to deal with an emotional Alex. Eagle, Snake, and Wolf will each deal with Alex one way or another. Someone did kindly point out I always forget to mention them eating oh and before I get a mention about this.**

**Who the hell would want to write about Alex going to the loo? I certainly wouldn't therefore that is never mentioned... That just disturbs me if you dare ask me that. I wonder if I have Alex's emotions an alright reaction to Fox being his permanent guardian. If my best friend's father had told me he had custody over me until I turned 18... or even a brother figure being that. I would cry about it too. Again, Credits to all authors who have written an Alex Rider fanfic and something in my story is like yours. Especially credits to Amitai for letting me credit her and use bits and pieces of the story (Yes, I DID get permission!) and before someone else notices.**

**James San Luca (In Loco Parentis by Amitai) - Wolf**

**Matt Tristan - Eagle**

**Eric Lucas - Snake**

**Ben Daniels (Not my creation, it belongs to the Alex Rider Series!) - Fox**

**Christain Anderson - Panther**

**So now you know their full names and all. Moving on to other things; (Evil smile) Alex gets forced to play dress up. Review and reply if you really want me to write a scene about that... The Next Chapter "Daycare" I'm sure you are getting the hint on what is about to take place for Alex. **


	12. Daycare

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Twelve "Day Care"**

_"Let's go play and leave the grown ups to be boring." Ashley said. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Alex was dragged against his will and Fox simply chuckled. Alex was taken into Ashley's room which nearly blinded him. The walls were painted pink with a double bed (with a step stool on the edge) against a wall, a net flowing over it (of course all pink and white). There was a tall doll house with dolls everywhere and Alex, to his horror, saw the open toy chest with little girl toys and dresses._

_"Let's play dress up!" Ashley chirped. Alex grimaced._

_This would not bode well. Not. At. All..._

This could not be happening. This could not be happening. This could...

Alex really wished he could melt into a puddle and die! He really couldn't remember now how Ashley had convinced him but, now he was wearing a white dress with flowers decorating it. He was standing in front of Ashley, his face heating up in embarassment. She had managed to put his hair in little pigtails.

"Now for the final touch up!" Ashley giggled. She pulled out a bag and Alex's eyes widened.

"No!" Alex argued. He weakly fought back (not wanting to hurt her) as she practically attacked his face with the contraptions. It took over ten minutes of constantly fighting against her and Ashley successfully doing whatever to his face.

"There! You're pretty now." Ashley said with a final tone in her voice. Alex absently thought she would make one scary agent or possibly a teacher with that command in her voice. Ashley pulled out a mirror and Alex's face heated in a dark red. He was wearing make up! Alex weakly thought he'd get mistaken for a girl because of this.

"Ashley! Alex! Dinner!" Panther's voice rang out. Alex heard footsteps and panicked. He tried to hide but, Ashley stubbornly pulled him out of her room and dragged him downstairs.

"Chris! Kaity! I made Alex all pretty now." Ashley chirped happily. She made it to the bottom step and Alex came into view of his guardians and Panther and his wife. Alex blushed darkly, embarassed beyond belief. Here he was, supposed to be 14 and shrunk to the size of a 5-year-old, forced to wear a dress with make up on his face and his hair in pigtails. Alex felt he'd willingly go up to Scorpia again than be forced in front of K-Unit looking like this!

"I must say you really did a good job," said a chuckling Fox. Eagle had fallen out of his chair laughing, Wolf was grinning, Snake was laughing as well, Panther was biting his cheek to keep from laughing, and Kaitlyn was looking at Ashley with a faint disapproval.

"Ashley... Alex is a boy. He doesn't need to be looking like that." Kaitlyn chided before she picked Alex up who buried his face into her shoulder, still red in the face.

"Hang on," Eagle choked, "We need a picture of this."

"Matt! That's cruel." Fox admonished. Nevertheless, Wolf had managed to pull out his camera phone and had snapped a picture of Alex right before Kaitlyn carried him upstairs. Kaitlyn sat him on the bathroom counter and unzipped the flowery dress. Luckily Alex was still in his clothes, minus his jacket. Kaitlyn pulled out the pigtails and grabbed a cloth, gently wetting it and applying pressure to Alex's face, washing the makeup off him.

"Are you alright Alex?" She asked, seeing Alex looking red in the face and downcast. Alex was forming a plan before he looked at her, letting fake tears well up in his eyes.

"Wolf is gonna make fun of me now cause he got a picture." Alex said, sniffing. He looked at her with wide eyes, _looking_ ready to "cry" on her. Kaitlyn couldn't resist and cuddled Alex.

"Don't worry honey, I'll make him delete it." Kaitlyn soothed before putting him down and Alex followed her downstairs. He hung back though and heard Kaitlyn yelling things like "adorable little boy" and "hurt his feelings" as well as "SAS soldiers" mentioned with other things that Alex couldn't hear. He finally made his appearance right as Kaitlyn was handing Wolf his phone back. Alex still had a faint flush on his cheeks but, Fox gave him a reassuring smile that the phone had deleted the picture and lifted him up into a seat beside him.

"So," Panther began as they ate the steak that he had made for tonight, "I was curious as to know where Alex goes when you all go to work. Especially since Wolf, Eagle, Snake, and I go to the camp for 3 days ever other week."

"I take Alex to work with me though he has been a handful," Fox rolled his eyes upward as he spoke. Alex grinned as he took a sip of his juice.

"Well, since Kaitlyn is a doctor at St. Dominic and works a lot, Ashley usually goes to daycare with our other brother. Only I take care of Ashley while my older sister takes care of my little brother Nick." Panther said.

"Daycare?" Snake asked curiously, an idea forming. Uh oh...

"Yeah; It's called the Little Red School House. It's for children ages 18 months to 6 years and its from around 7AM to 5PM for the kids who haven't started school yet. Ashley loves it there." Chris explained. Alex had a bad feeling about this.

He was right, as he sat in the car seat while they said goodbye to Panther, Ashley, and Kaitlyn. When they got in the car, he glared.

"So starting tomorrow, Panther picks Cub up for Daycare." Wolf said with a smirk. Eagle, who chose to sit next to him, pinched Alex's cheek teasingly.

"Our little Cub is growing up," He mock sniffed. Alex turned his head to bite the man but, Eagle had pulled his hand away. Wolf lips were twitching as Eagle continued to tease Alex mercilessly about having to go to daycare.

"Eagle, stop torturing the kid," Wolf ordered. Eagle did so with a pout. They made it to the house and Fox unlatched Alex and the boy followed his guardian inside. He sat on the couch with a sigh.

"Come now Alex, its not that bad. Just one day at the daycare is all. We really couldn't say no to Panther's offer." Fox explained.

"Yeah but -"

"None of that, you're going. If only for a day to see what its like." Wolf said firmly. Alex looked at him with a strange look. Wolf was hard to understand really. One minute he was ignoring Alex, the next he was glaring, or the next he was being... parental. That made Alex shudder. Alex gave a small yawn, realizing he was tired and bid them goodnight.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth," Fox said absently and then froze.

The room got quiet.

"You seriously just said that?" Eagle said, gaping.

"Wow, you've actually got parental instincts!" Snake said with a mock approval. Alex stared at him incredulously before shrugging and nodding, leaving the room. This wasn't the first time Fox had said some random fatherly or brotherly comment to him and it wouldn't be the last. Alex got himself ready for bed and crawled into his bed, yawning and closing his eyes. He fell asleep with in minutes.

When the next day arrived, he was being shaken awake by Fox. Alex, who was in wonder how he didn't react to that, got up and took a quick shower before changing into the clothes Fox set out for him (because he had to keep up the little boy appearance... or so he says) before running downstairs at Fox's pushing. Fox had already put the cereal things on the table and Alex ate quickly at Fox's insistance that Panther was coming to pick him up in a few minutes. Alex looked at Fox. The man was acting oddly ever since yesterday, almost as if he was anxious or something. Alex shrugged the thought off and soon the doorbell rang. Snake, Wolf, and Eagle were all asleep upstairs and Alex was eating so Fox let him and Ashley in.

"I've got time to spare," Panther laughed when Fox tried to hurry Alex along. Alex, sensing the man trying to quickly get him to the Daycare, slowed his eating down.

"I've already got a second car seat in my car for Alex," Panther told Fox when the men had been about to head outside to switch the car seat from Wolf's car to Panthers. Fox thanked him in relief.

"What's got you all bunched up?" Wolf's voice came, grumpy. He walked over to the coffee maker and started himself some. Alex raised an eyebrow at Wolf who was looking at Fox. Fox simply gave him a sheepish smile, mouthing later.

"We've got to go now. I'll drop him off around 5:30 to 6PM." Panther said, looking at his watch. Alex slid out of his chair and followed. Ashley smiled and grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the white car. Panther lifted Ashley up and strapped her in her carseat with ease before he picked up Alex right as Fox placed a backpack in the van, slightly out of Alex's reach. Alex tried to keep still as Panther strapped him in and he bit his cheek to keep from frowning. He was really not looking forward to this. Not one bit. Alex could see a little white ear sticking out of the bag and knew the stupid bear was in there. He inwardly sighed and looked out the window. Ashley was doing the same only she was humming to herself, some silly song.

It was around 15 minutes later that they pulled up to a little church looking place with a wide playground and pool in the back that Alex could see. Panther unbuckled Ashley first before he helped Alex out and handed the boy his backpack. Alex obediantly put it on and followed Panther to the entrance. Panther opened the door for Ashley to run through and Alex to enter. His eyes widened slightly upon the bright colored hall he could see next to the adminstrations desk.

"Good Morning Mr. Anderson. Ashley." A woman chirped brightly. Chris Anderson, aka Panther, nodded with a smile before he gently took Ashley's and Alex's hand.

"Good Morning Mrs. Webkin!" Ashley said happily, giving the woman a big smile. Mrs. Webkin then looked over at Alex who, having no idea on what else to do besides pull the shy kid act because he was so not going to do what Ashley did, gave her a nervous smile and hid slightly behind Panther.

"This is Alex, the little boy I told you about whose Uncle I work with." Panther introduced, "Alex, this is Joanne Webkin." Joanne gave Alex a warm smile.

"Hello Alex, it is very nice to meet you," she greeted, almost cooing. Alex nearly grimaced; nearly.

"So he is Ashley's little guest for today?" Mrs. Webkin asked Panther who nodded. He gave her a form from Fox, though Alex didn't know that, stating that Alex was a very subdued and quiet child and such. Mrs. Webkin nodded and said goodbye to Panther. Chris knelt down in front of Alex as Ashley went over to wait by the entrance of the hall with Mrs. Webkin until Chris was done talking to her friend.

"Alex, are you going to be alright?" Panther asked. He was thinking he was talking to a shy nervous little five-year-old boy, the nephew of the man he was replacing for K-Unit. However, this was actually a 14-year-old teenage spy that had been through so much. Therefore, the response was different.

"Yes sir." Alex said quietly. How was he supposed to act? He felt he could trust Panther but, he didn't ever want Panther and his family to know that he was Alex Rider aka Cub. Even though Panther had never heard of the real Cub, he had thought giving Alex the codename Cub was just a little cute thing that Fox had done for Alex. Panther was nice, Alex mused, and he was friendly.

"I'll be back to pick you and my sister up later. Don't worry, you'll have fun here." Panther said. He smiled, mused Alex's blond locks, and said goodbye to his little sister before leaving. Alex watched him go apprehensively. He faintly noticed Mrs. Webkin taking his hand and pulling him along down the hall. There were child drawings and animals along the walls. Odd things hung from the ceiling and they passed room with baby gates on the entrance, small children in the room playing. Alex was taken to a room where there was about 8 or so little kids sitting at two tables with five at the first one and three at the other. There was a lady there, who was tall and very pretty. She seemed to be reading out loud and suddenly stopped, looking at the open door. She smiled and told the kids she'd be back.

"Good morning Ms. Holder." Ashley said happily.

"Hello Ashley and who is this cute little guy?" she inquired to Mrs. Webkin.

"His name is Alex. He will be with us for today as Ashley's guest because his Uncle requested he try it for a day." Mrs. Webkin told her. Ms. Holder nodded.

"Hello Alex. I'm Ms. Holder." The lady said very kindly, bending over with her hand on her knees to get to his height. Alex looked at her. She was nice looking and Alex felt drawn to her.

"Hi." Alex simply said.

"I'll let you get back to what you were doing." Mrs. Webkin said, releasing Alex's hand. Alex put his hands in the blue-navy jacket that Fox had made him wear since it was kind of chilly. Christmas was nearing, Alex mused absently as he shifted his weight to his other foot.

"Well, why don't we go introduce everybody," Ms. Holder suggested. Alex followed her as Ashley grabbed the crook of his arm and as always, dragged him inside. Alex noted that Ashley had that take charge attitude and was bemusedly comparing her to what Wolf's children would be like if he ever had any. He paused. The thought made him shudder which to Ms. Holder, it looked like he was shivering in nervously. She gave him a comforting smile that made Alex blink.

"Class," Ms. Holder called out, "we have a new friend today. He will be Ashley's guest, please welcome Alex to the classroom." Alex watched the eight children all look excited, eying him like some sort of new shiny toy. Alex bit his lower lip. He did not like this. He shouldn't be in this place at all. He was not a little kid, he didn't need to be treated like one! Still, Alex felt the childish nerves that settled in his stomach and he swallowed as he stood in front of the 4 boys and 4 girls in front of him. Ashley thankfully still had hold on his arm and had drug him towards the two empty seats. Alex sat down, putting his backpack under the desk, and mused to himself how small the furniture was. If he was fourteen, it would have been difficult to sit in these kind of little chairs. Ms. Holder spoke up again, this time continuing the book she had been reading out loud. It was titled; Who Needs a Bear? by Barbara Dillon. The story was slightly weird and Alex tuned it out, staring at the room around him. Ms. Holder noticed this as she read but, chose to allow the boy to do so. The room was white with colorful posters around. There was a large white board with markers, high above any of their reach.

Pretty soon she finished the story with the odd bear finding a new home and Alex watched as she suggested they play a game in the play room. She had all the kids line up and have their hands behind their back. Alex hesitated before following what they did and he quietly stayed behind Ashley.

"Why are you so quiet?" Ashley asked him as they made it to the play room, even with the distractions of a child being too noisy or poking someone enough to make the victim cry out for Ms. Holder. Alex shrugged at her.

"I don't really know. I don't like to talk." Alex said, keeping his voice barely above a whisper like Ashley's. He'd admit that when he met her, he had talked with her while they played on the playground (like on the seesaw which was actually really fun for Alex), and when Ashley made him play dress up, he had whined at her and they had their own kind of fun. There was something about Ashley that just made even an adult want to be childish and have fun with her.

"You can talk here though. Is it `cause your Uncle isn't here?" She asked curiously. Her child innocence was really making it harder to not talk.

"Sort of," Alex simply said to her, offering her a small smile, "But, I only know you here." There. A perfectly reasonable explanation.

"You should meet everybody. They're nice." Ashley whispered back. Their attention was taken by Ms. Holder who walked over to the two who had sat out while the others were playing some game Alex didn't know.

"Why aren't you playing?" Ms. Holder asked Ashley.

"Alex doesn't wanna play." Ashley simply said.

"Oh?" Ms. Holder raised an eyebrow and smiled kindly at Alex.

"I don't really know how to play," Alex admitted. He hadn't gone to a daycare ever, because Ian had not wanted him to, sensing it was nothing valuable worth for Alex. He hadn't had any friends since a baby until he was 8 when he started playing on the little league's football team. So he naturally hadn't really known how to play many games.

"We'll teach you," Ms. Holder offered. She held out her hand and Alex hesitated before taking it. They spent awhile playing the game, explaining it to Alex who actually enjoyed himself. It was a silly form of Tag and he liked it. He had never really allowed himself to let go like this for the past year. It was new and different to him...

Eventually lunch time came and Alex sat with Ashley and her friends from the class. The four girls were; Lily, Alyssa, Amie, Carol and the males were Clay, Brett, Freddy, and Hayden. They all welcomed Alex and the former teenager actually somewhat enjoyed himself. The only thing he did not like was the hour long nap time. He had laid there with his eyes closed and thought of his life. Everything was settling itself and he was finding it somewhat alright.

Pretty soon Ashley and him were sitting in the classroom, waiting for Panther to come pick them up. They were two of the last ten or so kids left so they sat in the back of their classroom with Ms. Holder cleaning up.

"Why do you want to be my friend so much?" Alex asked her after Ashley had stated that he was her best friend early during the arts and crafts time which had involved Alex getting paint on his shirt.

"Why not?" Ashley asked back, cocking her head. Alex hesitated but was saved as Panther entered the classroom.

"Chris!" Ashley shouted happily. She ran over to him and hugged him at the waist. Panther smiled before looking over at Alex who put his backpack on and walked over to him.

"Have any fun today?" Panther asked the boy. Alex shrugged and followed Panther back to the car. The ride home was uneventful and soon Fox was opening the door and they were saying goodbye to Ashley and Panther. Alex saw Eagle and Snake playing a racing game against each other. Eagle was losing horribly.

"Where's Wolf?" Alex asked.

"He wanted to try cooking this time." Fox said, smiling as he took Alex's coat and put it on the rack next to the door. He put the backpack on the couch and followed Alex to the living room. Alex's eyes widened.

"I thought you said he can't cook." Alex asked. Fox looked thoughtful before shrugging. Abby wasn't to be seen and Fox explained she was pouting in Alex's room because Abby couldn't see Alex because he had been at daycare. Wolf entered the living room splattered here and there with food.

"Dinner is ready," Wolf stated smugly at having not blown anything up.

"What is it?" Eagle asked.

"Mystery stew like my grandmother made when I was younger," Wolf said before going upstairs to clean up. K-Unit grimaced while Alex looked at them in confusion. They started to walk into the kitchen.

"Every time someone makes anything with the word mystery in it, its bound to taste like -" Eagle was cut off as they made it to the kitchen. He couldn't resist gaping at the scene in front of him. Well... Abby wasn't in Alex's room pouting now. Instead she had opted to sitting on the kitchen table and was well...

"Dog, you just read my mind." Eagle said weakly. Yep, the dog had just used Wolf's homemade mystery stew as a bathroom. Unfortunately, Wolf walked in at this moment. He growled menacingly at the dog.

"Dog!" Wolf shouted, upset. He ran after the now fleeing Abby and Alex couldn't help it when he fell to the floor and burst out laughing, his sides aching. It was funny, especially since Wolf ran into the wall on his way chasing Abby.

In the end, they had gotten take out and Abby had gotten locked in the cage up in Alex's room. Alex was tucked into bed that night by Snake since Fox was dealing with a sincerely annoyed Wolf being provoked by Eagle. Snake had decided to tuck Alex in and the boy in question didn't really mind. Snake was just as kind as Fox and the thought was nice. It was still a weird reminder that Fox was now his permanent guardian aka adopted father. Alex had showered and brushed his teeth before crawling into bed. Snake covered him up.

"Night Alex,"

"Night Snake..." Alex yawned. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Life was good. But something was troubling him and this woke Alex up hours later after everyone had gone to bed. His instincts of his spy side was kicking in and he padded out of bed, shushing Abby's whines to be let out, and went downstairs wearily. He froze as he heard footsteps.

There was someone there in the living room, looking around. Alex tip toed into the kitchen. Right as his hand was in the drawer, a flashlight flickered in his face and Alex heard the voice that caused himself to shiver.

"Alex Rider, just the... child... I was looking for," the man's cold voice said. Alex grabbed the knife in the drawer quickly and threw it. He heard it hit the wall and he tried again with another. The man was dodging them, Alex noted. He was about to make a dash upstairs to get K-Unit awake when he was picked up from behind.

"FOX! WOLF! SNAKE! EA-" Alex had been yelling until cut off by a rag forcibly covering his nose and mouth. It was tainted with a liquid and Alex tried not to breath it in, wriggling madly in the man's arms. No. He would... not... lose... con...scious. N...o....

Alex fell unconscious, oblivious to the shouts of his name being called as the two intruders took the knocked out boy into a van and sped away in the night. Alex never heard K-Unit as they raced outside too late to get him back. He never heard Fox's anguish yells, or Wolf's swearing, see Snake's grimace, or watch Eagle's usually happy energy bubble dangerously into anger. No, Alex Rider was not aware of this.

**Author's Note: I had a little trouble getting the scenes written right. Some of it was based off the things I used to do when I was a little kid, and I used Ashley to make it. Sorry for taking longer than a day this time. I was shocked myself that I was taking so long and I'll be taking longer on the next chapter because of a few crazy plans my friends decided for me. Last time I did not cooporate, my friends got my dad to let them in while I was SLEEPING and they kind of literally kidnapped me. My parents laughed. So now, I won't be able to update as easy. So sorry that I'm leaving you in one massive cliffhanger.... oops? I'm going to be going a little different... I couldn't help that dog scene. Came from watching Firehouse Dog! Hehe... The Daycare thing was a little calm I guess. I finally got a few of the Alex Rider Series books!! Woo! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, sorry for taking so long. Happy Father's Day to the fathers out there by the way! I decided to make this longer than any of my chapters cause I took so long. Don't kill me for the cliffhanger? Things are about to get ugly for Alex. **

**Next Chapter : "Pain"  
**


	13. Pain

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Thirteen "Pain"**

Pain is something that either breaks or hurts. Pain causes unwanted internal and external problems. No matter what, Pain has a tendency to damage someone, in one of the two categories. Pain is an ache or a damage. It can be caused by physically harming someone, or emotionally scarring. This pain for him was different. It wasn't the pain that happens when a someone breaks up with the other. It isn't the pain that comes from hearing someone you know and love died. It is the pain that is similar to labor, though the reasons are different. The woman in labor is in pain because they are about to give birth to their offspring and it is a rather achy process. Like a stretched muscle.

His pain was different. His pain was one that was caused by another. Alex Rider was in pain. He had awoken while they were in the van. The man who had knocked him out had tied him up and had locked him in a ratty metal cage with a padlock on it. This worked because of his small size. Alex did not say anything, looking around for anything that could possibly help him escape at all. Nothing... the van had nothing in it but the seats the two occupied and the cage that held the shrunken teenage spy. Alex pressed his hand against the metal and frowned. His body ached horribly, probably thrown inside this stupid thing.

"Oh, look whose awake," an amused voice stated. Alex found it very familiar. The man who had flashed the light at him earlier had sounded like a total reminder as well. One of the men turned around and Alex's stomach did a flip, his breath stopped and practically closed up, and he paled.

It was the scientist. His name was Leon Andrews; the man who had taken him from his home when Jack had been killed. The man who had forced the drug down his throat as Dr. Circe had cackled.

"W-What?" Alex stammered, unable to keep his mouth shut. Andrews smirked.

"Didn't expect me to see you again so soon, little Alex?" He teased, "Doctor Circe was killed, yes. But, he was not the only one who had been working on that drug even though he did administer it being given to you. It is rather interesting how well it is."

"Why are you doing this?" Alex whispered. He would never admit it but, these people provoked real fear from Alex. Since his first time kidnapped, he had been put through so much emotional distress because of them. They had tortured him last time.

"We are testing just how accurate the drug is." This was all that was said to him. They drove for hours, with Alex sitting pitifully in the small cage that only allowed him to sit up and lay down. After a long time, they finally stopped and the back was opened. The cage he was held in was grabbed and roughly carried by the handle into a building. Alex's eyes searched the area. He did not recognize this place. It was too dark still to even fully see everything, the sun just now thinking about making the smallest of light appear around them. Alex was certainly not looking forward to this.

Miles away, K-Unit was sitting in the living room, all in anguish or anger; possibly both. Fox was in disbelief that this was happening to Alex again, being kidnapped. Eagle was stiff and glaring at the floor, his thoughts on the little kid they had taken. Alex wasn't fully Cub since the shrink. He was more like their little brother... or Fox's son. Wolf was pacing, swearing angrily. Snake was frowning and thinking up ways to hurt those who took Alex.

"How can this house be broken in so easily? If it hadn't been for Alex's shouts, we wouldn't have found out about this until morning!" Wolf growled. Snake was thinking thoughtfully.

"This may seem off topic but, haven't you noticed Alex's reactions to everything lately?" Snake started. Fox blinked before he too thought what Snake was musing about.

"It's almost as if that small part of his brain that was like a child, was slowly taking over him. He was starting to become alright with half the stuff that at the beginning he protested heavily to. He stopped reacting..." Fox noted softly.

"So, those guys could have been the goons to that Circe guy and took Alex to see how advance that stupid drug was?" Wolf said slowly. Snake and Fox shared a look before nodding at their thoughts.

"Maybe they went back to that same place we rescued him?" Eagle suggested hopefully. They nodded, hoping this was true. It was something to hold on to because right now, none of the four would admit it. They had grown to love and care for the little Cub that they had been taking care of.

Days later, Alex was panting heavily. He was hurting everywhere, his skin caked in blood and dirt. He didn't know how long he could last, being forced under their test like last time. Almost everything was the same as he was forced to do, only it hurt more and the tests were harder for him. He had been completely surprised to see he couldn't write as good as he used to, nor could he run fast. They had him run through mazes, out swim a grown man. For every failed assignment given to him, he was beaten brutally. They had cracked a rib and Alex had been writing so much against his will that his wrist was hurting and in pain, possibly sprained because it was swollen. His right leg hurt to move and he hadn't been fed anything since he got here, only given water.

The door opened, Alex gulped. This place installed so much fear in him than any other mission. Alex was thinking the fear came from his child side, it was the only option to why he kept feeling as if he would burst into tears at any second. A man walked in, smirking.

"Why hello Alex," he said. Alex had hated this man the most. He was the one who beat him mercilessly. His name was Doctor Campton.

"Go. To. Hell." Alex panted, running out of breath as he lay upon the metal bed with a thin mattress.

"If I did that, I wouldn't get to punish you though," Campton said with a smug smirk. He brought of the long metal thick chain and as easy as 1 2 3, he pulled off the old pajama top from Alex and rolled the struggling boy on his stomach, pinning him down. He brought the chain down. Once. Twice. Alex felt dizzy and was quickly losing count. Blood oozed from his back and he could only feel the intense pain it produced. He did not cry or make any noise besides a few whimpers. Finally, he stopped. Campton was satisfied and left the room. Alex simply lay there, counting in his head to distract the pain that was coming from his smarting back. The blood was dripping down his back and he must have made a terrible sight. Alex closed his stinging eyes and fell into a feverish, painful sleep. In his sleep, he planned. He would not die here and he was not lose.

He didn't wake for hours but, when he finally did, he awoke to the door opening and someone entering. He cracked an eye open to see Campton holding a gun.

"Its time to end this. We have no more need to experiment on you anymore." Campton said coldly with an evil grin. Alex sat up and Campton trained the gun immediately on him. The gun was pointed between Alex's eyes but, Campton was a foot away or so. His mistake...

Faster than Campton expected, Alex jumped from the bed and launched himself at Campton. The man was blinded for a second and tried to throw the gripping boy off him but, Alex snatched the gun from his hand and jumped off, kicking the man in the face. Alex held the gun up and pure rage took over him.

"Oh, and you don't have the guts to do it, do you?" Campton teased horribly. Alex's hands did not shake like they did when he tried to shoot Mrs. Jones. This was different. This man had made him suffer for at least a month worth. He was associated with those who killed Jack and killed his chances at ever being normal again. Alex saw nothing but red and he didn't have control over his actions next.

He fired. Being one with the gun, he had saw not a person but, a target like he had at Scorpia. The bullet shot the man exactly in the head and he fell instantly limp. Alex breathed shakily and he limped out painfully to the open door. There was no one in the area and they hadn't heard the silent gun. He felt like he was going to die any second and he walked on his most likely broken leg, out of the place. He limped until he was at an exit and he was in wonder how no one was there to stop him. They had probably thought Campton had finally killed him. That was alright with him. Alex managed to make it outside before his pain took over him completely and he fell to the concrete in pain. He vaguely could hear someone familiar but, Alex could not dwell on it. He just wanted to go home. Alex closed his eyes...

He awoke to the sound of voices arguing near him. Alex unclosed his eyes and the occupants of the room noticed him stirring.

"Alex! Thank god you're awake finally," Ben's voice came. He sounded relieved and Alex looked at him. He seemed to have lost sleep, if the bags under his eyes were anything to go by. Alex noticed where he was. It was St. Dominics.

"How long have I been out?" Alex asked, his voice hoarse.

"Five days. You were... are... pretty beaten up." Wolf answered, eying the cast that was displaying itself on Alex's leg. Alex frowned and lifted his wrist to see a wrap on that as well, he could feel one around his head and chest.

"What did they do to you?" Snake asked, already feeling Alex's forehead and the likes. Alex took a breath and told them.

He told them from the first time he was kidnapped, having to run through a maze that had hot wires on the floor and the walls were spikes. How he had been subjected to being whipped with a horse whip, forced to write with a pen on paper until his hand bled (if he stopped, he was touched with a hot coal) and how he had been put through swimming until he couldn't move, his head banged against a wall countless times.

And that had just been his first time. He had suffered corporal punishment this time to add to the others. Child-made tests were given to him to pile on to his torture. The corporal punishment had been terrible in the sense of embarassment and humiliation. It had been the first thing they had done when he was taken in the second time. He had to run from trained dogs, having to out run them in his body. He had to write more which proved to be different than the first because he hadn't written in so long and he was smaller and his body was at the point that children that age were just now learning to write. He had been faced with being hit and lashed at when someone was angry. Everything hurt more because of the size of his body.

Then he came to how he escaped and the situation finally hit him. He had killed a man in cold blood. He had shot Campton.

"Alex?" Ben said concernedly. Alex had frozen all of a sudden and was looking at nothing in disbelief.

"I killed him..." Alex said softly, his eyes glazing over. He couldn't believe it. He was a murderer for real this time. He had took someone's life directly. Ben frowned at his charge. He sighed.

"Alex. The man would have killed you if you hadn't stopped him. You did the right thing," Wolf had said. That might have made it worse, and it did but, Alex didn't show that it made it worse. He just nodded and looked away.

"You can be discharged today, though you have to come here every other day for a check up on your health and that leg of yours." Snake said. Alex once again nodded before Fox lifted him up into his arms and placed him gently in the wheelchair that Eagle brought in. Alex was wheeled out of the hospital after checking out and he was gently placed in the car seat of Wolf's van. The four men noted with concern that Alex had been completely nonresistant and subdued. The drive home was silent and they made it back. Snake opted to carry Alex to his room and helped the boy into bed (seeing as Alex still needed more rest and it was night time when Alex awoke after all) after changing him in pajamas seeing as Alex made no indication to move.

"Night Alex," Snake said to Alex.

"Night..." Alex softly said, closing his eyes and allowing sleep to overcome him. He didn't sleep well at all. Nightmares of Campton plagued his mind and they were followed by Herold Sayle, Mr. Grin, Hugo Grief, General Alexei Sarov, Daiman Cray, Marc Antonio, Yassen Gregorvich, Julia Rothman, Nile, Paul Drevin, Nikolei Drevin, Ash, Major Yu, and so many more that had died in his missions. Indirectly they may have been, they still died because of him. Alex tossed and turned, whimpering and silent tears fell from his closed sleeping eyes. No. Please... No!

Eric Lucas was 26, and he was also codenamed Snake. He frowned thoughtfully as he sat next to Ben Daniels, looking over the medical file for Alex. The boy was injured everywhere. No part of him had made it unscathed. There were burn marks, whip lashes, cuts, bruises, scars, broken bones, sprained bones, cracked ribs, a concussion, bleeding, almost internal bleeding (they saved him from that thankfully).

He was concerned. He knew he had treated Cub horribly when they first met. That made him guilty. When he was put as a guardian for a small Alex Rider, he had decided he'd make it up to the kid. That's what Wolf, Eagle, and he had done. Fox had explained he had met Alex on that mission that got him shot. Fox was alright. Wolf explained Point Blank. How could a kid go through so much? He had even been on 7 missions! It was crazy and Snake wondered how Alex could still be innocent.

Innocent only because of the drug possibly, Snake mused. He heard faint whimpers and he excused himself from the living room before taking the steps upstairs and entering Alex's room. The boy wasn't awake. He was thankfully asleep and Snake understood what was going on.

He was having a nightmare. Most likely about that Doctor Campton fellow. Alex was thrashing about and whimpers, whispered panicky words, all emitted from his mouth. He kicked and punched nothing and was moving in such a way it was as if he was either trying to beat himself up or defend himself. Snake went over to Alex and sat on the edge of the bed. He did the only thing he could think of and gently rolled Alex on his stomach, which was somewhat hard, and began to rub a hand in circles on the boy's back in a soothing manner, whispering soothing words. His parents had done this for him when he was a young adult who had just started training for the army, for SAS. He hadn't been sent right away to K-Unit and it had been a break. He had been to Iraq and was visiting his parents after that. Snake shook his head and concentrated on calming his young charge down. Best not think of his past right now. Alex still wriggled, whimpering occasionally until his breath evened out and he was sleeping in peace. Snake smiled at the purely innocent look that the boy now had on his sleeping face. He wondered how long it would take before that drug would fully take over any thinking Alex had about his teenage life. There was no doubt that Alex would still be able to think like his old self but, the drug would take over a lot of his emotions and actions as well as reactions. That was what MI6 discovered in the drug. They were close to the antidote but, it would take under a year to create. A year Alex would be a small boy with child problems instead of his usual teenage drama.

Snake ran a hand through the blond hair that was Alex's. He smiled softly before leaving the room. Fox was walking down the hall, most likely about to go to bed, when he saw Snake leave Alex's bedroom.

"Anything wrong?" Fox asked worriedly. Snake smiled at his friend. The man was always concerned about Alex and had been a wreck when the boy got kidnapped. Really now, he hadn't even been named guardian for that long! Yet... there was something about Alex Rider that made you want to give it your all. He was unique and had an unfair life. Fox had felt immensely horrible for treating Alex so bad during his fortnight at SAS almost a year ago. The man had one huge fatherly instinct towards Alex, that Snake realized. Even Eagle, who was pretty dense, realized how much Ben cared for Alex.

"He just had a nightmare is all," Snake said quietly. Fox frowned but, nodded. He opened the door slightly to make sure Alex was still sleeping peacefully. He said a goodnight to Snake before heading for his room. Snake sighed and went to his own bedroom. He went to bed that night finally being able to sleep. None of them could sleep the past five days. Alex had been in the hospital and badly wounded. The days that he had been kidnapped they had hardly slept during that time too. Snake sighed. Geez, everything always happened to that kid. Hmm, maybe they could take him to the Zoo somewhere. Snake fell asleep with the plans already forming in his head.

**Author's Note: I hope I made you proud with the beginning. I purposefully made myself depressed so I could write this. Not easy because my best friend and I had an awesome time together and it made us laugh so hard every second and I'm still grinning at everything. I tried though. I hope it worked well. Alex is about to go on a round about of suffering now. Sorry. It'll be... "adorable" still I guess. Uhh... Can I lie and have my own little Brecon Beacons in another area and not in Whales? I just don't ever remember that it is when I write this. I was reading the Scorpia book while I wrote this so I kept going crazy and all. That book was a total "HOLY!!! OH MY GOD!" moment for me. The news, Mrs. Jones. Ah, it was a good one. The torturing thing came from reading Eagle Strike. Not the ideas, the moments I was feeling was from it. Snake needed a moment with Alex. And just a little hint. The story is about to end. Don't worry. There is a sequel to this that I've already had outlined and ready to write when this ends. I hope you liked this chapter. I decided to write this before my friends come over tonight. So I rushed... Heh? Oops? Don't kill me... Well. The cliffhanger from last chapter you guys said (mock sniff) You're only keeping me alive so that I can write this. All well, Love you guys! Sorry this one is shorter than Ch. 12. That was kind of a one time thing since I took so long.  
**


	14. Realizing

**Everlasting Changes**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Fourteen "Realizing"**

**Author's Note: The Last Chapter of the story.**

Time progressed for Alex. Every night since the kidnapping, he had suffered constant nightmares of killing Campton. Of his missions again. Every night since the kidnapping, Eric (Snake) and/or Ben (Fox) had been there during the night, calming him down until the nightmares changed. Alex still suffered his broken leg and sprained wrist. Snake gave him PT everyday as well and made sure Alex took his medication. Wolf would eye him wearily every time he was in the room. Eagle would actually frown and not make any jokes, to Alex's wonder. Snake and Fox were really nice to him and he felt close to them. Alex was unsure of how to act around Wolf and Eagle.

Today, Snake had suggested that they go to the Zoo.

"The Zoo?" Alex asked wearily, playing a video game against Fox. So far it was still a tie.

"Yeah. I've been thinking about going to one ever since you got out of the hospital. It sounds like a fun idea," Snake said, putting his book 1984 on the coffee table. Wolf was out buying more coffee while Eagle was still snoring upstairs. It was not even noon yet after all. Alex inwardly snorted. He figured that Eagle would at least be up early every day, considering he was a SAS soldier.

"I guess so," Alex said reluctantly. He didn't really mind going to the zoo. He had never gone to one after all and the thought made him want to. Ian had never really been up to see a bunch of animals in cages and Jack thought he wouldn't like them.

"We'll go in a little bit, if we manage to wake Eagle up anytime soon." Snake said, looking at his watch.

"I'll do it," Alex volunteered as he lost to Fox in the game. He got up and almost ran to the staircase when Snake's voice was heard. The man was looking at him strictly.

"Alex! Remember not to run!" Snake was growling. Alex stopped and walked carefully this time. His leg was still under healing and if he pushed it to far, he could re-injure himself. He hadn't had to wear the cast as long as normal because it hadn't been completely broken. He was able to walk now and that was pretty recent. When he got back on his feet after having been carried around everywhere, it took awhile to get used to walking again and it was unfortunately an almost habit for Fox to pick him up. Alex made it to Eagle's room and opened it quickly and quietly. He grinned as he saw the sound asleep Matt Tristan aka Eagle. He moved over towards him and used his better hand to get himself on the bed, his sprained wrist was better but, still sensitive. He crawled over to Eagle's stomach and balanced himself as he stood up. He let one big crouch before he jumped up and landed perfectly... right on Eagle's stomach. Alex felt like he was on a pump or something... He kept sinking in.

Eagle yelped loudly as he shot up, wide awake from the jump. He looked around widely until he found the source, grinning at him as he lay on his back on Eagle's lap, the man sitting up. Eagle glared at Alex who was still grinning.

"You think its funny, don't you?" Eagle muttered before he smirked at Alex who stopped and looked at him. A smirking Eagle was never a good sign. Before Alex could even think of moving, Eagle pinned him down firmly in his lap and began to tickle Alex endlessly. His fingers moved over Alex's side over and over.

"Do you give?" Eagle laughed.

"N-Never!" Alex choked out in his fit. It was a mixture of giggling and laughing that caused Ben and Eric to come running upstairs. They stopped upon the sight with raised eyebrows. Eagle stopped and smiled 'innocently'.

"If you're done torturing Alex, get dressed bonehead. We're going to the Zoo today." Snake said as Fox took Alex from Eagle before the man decided to have another go. Alex had his arms around Fox's neck as he was carried downstairs, Alex already dressed. Eagle grumbled before perking up and he quickly got ready, noting the door opening and Wolf's voice. Snake had left with Alex already and they were all downstairs where Eagle saw Wolf eying Alex who was looking anywhere but at the man. Eagle raised an eyebrow but, decided not to question it. They quickly got into Wolf's car and drove towards the Zoo. Alex took hold of the edge of Ben's shirt as they walked in, careful not to lose Alex because of the crowds and his small stature.

Wolf had a little pamphlet with him and was looking at it. They went to the Reptiles first. Alex went over to a cage holding a Cobra and he watched it in fascination as it slithered to the glass, flickering its tongue.

"Snake... Are you alright?" Fox's voice echoed. He had went over with Alex to the Cobra and had turned around to see Snake, pale and sweating. He was breathing hard.

"Peachy..." Snake muttered. He was quick to grab Alex's hand and tug him out of the Reptile house, knowing that if he took Alex the others would follow.

"You don't like snakes, do you?" Wolf asked in disbelief. Snake did not look at him.

"Well that is certainly a charming revelation," Eagle laughed, "Snake doesn't like snakes."

"Only ones like that Cobra!" Snake defended himself, avoiding eye contact. He kept hold of Alex's hand and they went to the Primate section this time. Alex watched as an ape swung its way around on the branches. One was eating a banana and two of them were... wow... that was certainly....

Alex was at a loss of words for what the two primates were doing in the cage. He kept looking but, Fox (sensing that something was amiss) swiftly turned him around by the shoulders and led him to another cage, his own cheeks red. Wolf was at the cage they were walking towards. He was glaring at a monkey.

The monkey was glaring back... Alex stared at Wolf in bewilderment as Wolf glared harder and the monkey followed suit. Wolf was having a glaring contest with a monkey!! Alex was sent into hysterics as he realized this and had to have Fox drag him by his hand and pull him aside to calm him down before they continued towards the birds. Eagle was intrigued with the bird section where there were a lot of females cooing at a little baby bird. He had this crazy idea. Of course, Eagle had used him to pick up a few chicks, carrying him around on his shoulders and such. Alex had gone along with it when Eagle bribed him with ice cream which Alex had lately taken to loving. After this, Alex got to pet a baby goat and everything. He actually had a lot of fun. After the zoo, they had gone to a restaurant to eat. Yet, as they were eating they weren't aware of a disaster starting... until too late.

K-Unit entered the large place that was on the fourth floor of the indoor mall (Tom had taken Alex to the outdoor mall somewhere else). It was pretty nice and comfortable. Boosters aligned the wall with smaller tables in the center. There were a lot of people out eating here, they noticed. They ordered a booth and Alex sat closest to the wall in their corner booth. They had begun eating and the meal was actually quiet delicious.

"What do you think that smell is?" Fox asked as he bit into his hamburger.

"Probably a cook burnt someone's meal." Wolf said, eating a fry. Alex sipped his coke, wondering.

"I feel sorry for the cook and the customer. The cook is going to get chewed out and the Customer gets a burnt meal." Snake said with a grin. They continued eating until they heard screaming from a waitress suddenly and they overheard her.

"What's Wrong?" The manager asked.

"None of the meals were being made yet and I went to check on the cooks. They were all knocked unconscious and a fire was back there! It enveloped them and I closed the door and ran." She wailed.

"We need to evacuate immediately!!!" The manager said. Unfortunately, many had heard and were running and screaming in panic as a massive fire appeared in their sight, spreading intensely fast, already covering an entrance. Customers ran and tried to fit in the elevator, overloading it. Wolf stood up abruptly.

"Get Alex out of here! Fox! Snake! Find something we can use to help everyone get off this floor." Wolf ordered. Eagle grabbed Alex and made a sprint for the elevator but stopped as he saw the crowd and he looked around. He found the stairs case as he left the restaurant and he ran for them. The fire had taken over the food joint already and the fourth floor was being consumed by the flames. Alex held onto Eagle as the man ran. Just as Eagle was in the middle of his run, a beam slammed into him, knocking him off balance and effectively causing Alex to fly out of his hands and land away from him. The beam hadn't managed to damage either of them, having hit Eagle in the shoulder. Eagle looked around wildly. When he spot Cub, he ran towards the boy but, a crash from the ceiling and a flaming section of it fell in front of him, blocking his path to Alex. Eagle cursed the mall for having their food place on the top floor and looked for a way to Cub. Alex had been somewhat knocked unconscious during the fall, his head having hit the stupid fake tree that was now being caught on fire. Alex weakly lifted his head to see a blurry image of Matt trying to get to him.

"CUB! ALEX!" Eagle shouted, hoping to get Alex to awaken more.

"Ea..gle?" Alex said in a dazed voice. Eagle growled at the licking flames that seemed to mock him. He looked around and found a pole. It was risky...

Eagle grabbed it and with a running start, he flung himself over the mass of heat and landed unsteadily over towards Alex. With relief, he ran over to the child and knelt down. He places his fingers on Alex's neck. A pulse. Thank god. Eagle checked his breathing and then lifted Alex up into his arms and found an exit. He began running, tucking Alex into his arms, holding him against his check. Eagle had Alex's head under his chin, his body curled up to his body. Eagle panted. The smoke was starting to cloud his vision and he could already tell by Alex's weak coughing that he had caught the fumes. He found the staircase and ran down them as fast as he could without hurting Alex. His shoulder ached horribly but, Eagle ignored that. He cried in relief when he found himself out of the mall finally, having to have taken so many stairs.

"Matt! Alex!" Three voices shouted. Eagle turned to those who used his real name and sighed in happiness as he saw his friends. He heard Alex whimper pitifully and clutched him to his chest harder for a brief moment, rubbing Alex's back, before handing the unconscious child to Fox who immediately set to getting Alex awake.

Matt Tristan was 23. He was codenamed Eagle for his ability to shoot with a sniper with practical ease. He was good-looking and overall a joker. Today had given Eagle a moment to realize that Cub wasn't a spy at the moment, or the "brat" from his first time in Brecon Beacons. No. Alex Rider was currently shrunk in the form of a small boy and Eagle had tried to cover his uncomfortable feelings by jokes and teasing. Now, he realized that it was good and all. Cub had been helpless only because he had gotten knocked away by a beam. There was something about the kid that made you protective. That made you see something else. Alex's brown eyes for example.

Those brown orbs could see through you. See into your soul almost. Those eyes were clouding with a childlike innocence _only_ because of the drug that he had been given. Eagle could tell that there was hardly any innocence left for Alex Rider the teenage spy. They had more than half a year, around 9 months left until the antidote had been created.

Fox had found nothing wrong with Alex and they put him in the car first before they drove home in silence. Alex was now sleeping peacefully, his lungs clearing up from the smoke. Fox carried Alex to the bathroom while K-Unit hung around in the hall. He quickly changed Alex into cotton pajamas and carried him to the bed. He tucked Alex in and sat on the edge, running a hand through his hand. K-Unit entered Alex's room and looked at the sleeping boy. Alex looked so small and frail. They watched as if in a trance, his stomach rising and falling softly.

James San Luca was 28. He was codenamed Wolf and was leader of K-Unit. He had a tendency to glare when confused or to his emotions. Right now, he was thinking. He couldn't justify for what he did to Cub at Brecon Beacons when they met. He actually respected the teen spy at Point Blank and for_ literally_ kicking his arse out of the plane, preventing him from being binned. Though Wolf did get shot helping Alex, he could live with it.

"It occurred to me that his uncle was a spy, according to his file that we read awhile back." Wolf stated. They had read Alex's file the day before he arrived. There wasn't much about his missions or what happened during them. Mostly things about his family. A double-agent father, a nurse for a mother, a godfather who killed his parents, an uncle who was a spy, and an American ex-guardian who died. They had already knew about the bullet wound but, that was it besides his appearance.

"Cub has been through a lot." Snake mused out loud. They looked at each other.

Eric Lucas, Ben Daniels, Matt Tristan, and James San Luca shared a look before looking down at Alex's sleeping face. Blond hair was sticking his forehead and some on top his close eyes. Fox chose to move those out of the way. They knew what each was thinking. They had been like brother ever since they started training together. They were each other's best friends.

Right now their "fifth" member of K-Unit had been defenseless for the past 3 months and would continue to be for 9 more. No one said a word. They didn't need to. They knew what they were thinking at that moment.

They would protect Alex Rider aka Cub. They would be there for the boy in any way they could.

"For Alex." Wolf simply said, having not to state why he said that.

"For Cub," Fox, Snake, and Eagle said in union. They would protect their ward.

They would make sure Alex Rider wasn't alone anymore.

**Author's Note: I bet I underestimated myself when I had said that I had a few more chapters to go... Oops? Yes, this is the ending of Everlasting Changes. Keep a watch for a story called Silent Spy which will be its sequel. I hope you liked this one. Alex can never catch a break with life, can he? All well... I have officially read Stormbreaker, Snakehead, Scorpia, and Eagle Strike. I read out of order for some reason. But, those are important books (Well... I meant to get Point Blank instead of Eagle Strike but, all well) that I needed for my stories. I like them a lot. Snakehead was really cool! Sorry, off topic. I hope the scenes were alright this time. It was sort of hard to think of because I wanted to get this done! Drives me insane. There is a poll for the sequel on my profile now. The poll is VERY important and it is up to you to decide now. I'm terribly sorry this was shorter than the others.  
**

**Hope you liked the story!**

**Dedications: **

**To Amitai: I never heard of Alex Rider and it was curiosity that had made me click Hell Is Other People. I love your stories a lot!**

**To my Reviewers: Most of you corrected me and helped me along. Your reviews kept making me itchy to keep writing and I thank you for it. Also for the ideas you have given me.**

**Disclaimers:**

**I don't own the Alex Rider Series. I own the fanfiction story Everlasting Changes is all. **

**Claimers:**

**Panther, Ashley, Kayla, Kaitlyn, ect - Those are my OOCs. The Units besides K-Unit are not real characters in the book.**


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